The day after Neil Midlane graduated with an Honors degree in accounting, he set off to become a wildlife guide at a leading lodge in South Africa. Now, as Group Sustainability Manager for Wilderness Safaris, he is using his knowledge and credibility to make a positive impact in this space.
Beneath the flanks of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo mountains—the rugged, snowcapped peaks that straddle the border with southern Colorado—stretches a sprawling estate grounded in its mission of environmental restoration and preservation, and connecting people with nature.
In almost three decades, Singita has become one of Africa’s leading conservation and ecotourism brands, with half a million acres of land under their stewardship in Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, there is no tourism revenue, but the cost of managing conservation and community initiatives amounts to many millions of dollars each year.
Segera Retreat’s entire ethos is premised on being ecologically sound. So much so, that owner Jochen Zeitz, the former chairman and chief executive of global sporting goods company Puma and the art benefactor of the eponymous Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) situated in Cape Town, South Africa, has dedicated his life’s project to support sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems.
What started out as informal get-togethers of friends and likeminded people around experiences in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and at the annual Burning Man festival, has developed into Habitas, a lifestyle and experience hospitality brand that is sending ripples of excitement through the industry as the game-changer to watch.
