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Looking at those shots
it's really hard to believe

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that this currently 
thriving area in South Africa

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was once dedicated to cattle
and pineapple farms,

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with almost no biodiversity and wildlife.

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Phinda was established in collaboration 
with the local Zulu tribal community

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to rehabilitate the ecosystem,

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allowing for the return of the wildlife

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that had once flourished in this area.

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Phinda is local Zulu word for 'return'.

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Animals were brought in 
from other regions of southern Africa

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to establish new populations
in the conservancy.

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There is a lot of doom-and-gloom stories
about biodiversity.

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However, this story is a hopeful one.

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Phinda is a modern success
conservation story

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so stick around around to learn
how they managed to do it.

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I think the key to the success for Phinda

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is the fact that they've used
this ecotourism model

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to benefit not only the reserve itself

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but also the local communities
surrounding them.

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A lot of work goes 
into managing 30,000 hectares:

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making sure that animals are healthy,

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that they are reproducing,
but not inbreeding,

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that herbivores 
do not overgraze the land,

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that territorial animals 
have enough space

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and do not compete between each other,

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that invasive species
of plants are under control,

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that the areas will be protected
by anti-poaching units,

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and that is all while still
running lodges and operating tourism

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and voluntourism in the area

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that brings much needed funding
towards conservation.

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With the data collected here
by our volunteers

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that go out every day 
with one of our Ecological Monitors

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that data feeds live 
into our data systems,

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which we can then analyse.

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This helps us to make 
our management decisions.

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Animal populations in Phinda are thriving

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from an initial population
of just 30 white rhinos,

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Phinda now has one of the largest
white rhino populations in Africa

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and have been relocating
and repopulating rhinos

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to other reserves and countries,
due to their success at protecting them.

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This also facilitated what we call
Rhinos Without Borders,

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so where our white rhinos
have been translocated to Botswana

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to start up a founding population there.

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Phinda is the first private 
game reserve ever to be a part

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of the Black Rhino Range
Expansion Project,

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so this is a project together with WWF.

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The cheetah population here
has grown so successfully

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that some individuals were relocated
to other parts of southern Africa

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to establish healthy
cheetah populations there.

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Cheetah alone, Phinda and the MunYaWana

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is currently seen as one 
of the most important

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cheetah meta populations 
throughout southern Africa.

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Phinda has been chosen as a release site

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for pangolins that have been
confiscated from poachers

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and saved from the illegal wildlife trade.

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The pangolin is arguably

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the most trafficked animal on Earth

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leading to their disappearance
in the world.

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So pangolins were reintroduced 
here in June 2019,

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before that pangolins have been
completely extinct from the reserve.

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Over time, these animals have now 
established home ranges, territories,

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and thankfully have even had pups.

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It is also an educational ground -

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numerous researches occur here

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every year.

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From the get-go a lot of data
has been collected

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and that has resulted 
in numerous PhDs, Master's projects,

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also suitable protocols being out there

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on what's the right way 
for soft-releasing lions into new areas.

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I have been here a few weeks volunteering

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with African Conservation Experience,

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participating on all the daily tasks

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needed for animal management
and conservation like:

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monitoring, data collection,

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updating ID profiles of animals,

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tracking using some 
of the most modern technologies,

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trying to understand.

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So what is the reason

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of this overwhelming conservation success?

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Is it the modern technology

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and their ability to use camera traps,
telemetry, satellites,

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drones, acoustic sensors,

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a variety of apps 
for data collection and analysis?

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This project is neat because 
our cameras are actually tools

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and what we're doing is collecting data

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that's going to help us identify

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these individuals in the wild
at a later date.

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Is it their ability to utilize
conservation tourism

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and voluntourism to fund these projects?

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Around the world, 
many protected areas are underfunded.

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Allowing visitors to observe exciting
and important conservation tasks

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provides additional source of funding
for necessary management activities,

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such as ecosystem monitoring,

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anti-poaching patrols, 
invasive species eradication,

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and environmental educational programs.

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Tourism potentially has a big role
to play in education

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when it comes to conservation.

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One of the best things

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is there's so many people that care

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and that's just really lovely to see.

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Just spreading the word of, like,

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the sort of work that's done here,

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trying to get more funding

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and letting people know 
how important this is to preserve,

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is really important.

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When people connect with nature 
during their travels,

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when they see first-hand how hard it is

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to protect our nature
and what goes into it,

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it can lead them into being
more appreciative

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and become more invested in protecting it.

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I think the fact we don't know

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what we're gonna see 
or discover each day...

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it's very exciting.

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Like every day I've done so far
has been really different.

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And I've had a really unique experience

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seeing loads of animals 
that are endangered.

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So I'd say I'm pretty lucky.

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Of course, it is all 
of the above and more.

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This project truly exists due 
to the exceptional management

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and the work of numerous 
passionate people

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that spend hours and days in the bush,

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making sure that the area is thriving

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while educating tourists and visitors,

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and conducting research that helps other 
organizations and reserves

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to obtain this success as well.

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We mainly focus on movement data

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and being able to correlate all of that

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and expand it over a few years,

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and see the movement of different species,

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how they react to different
weather conditions and habitats

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and different influences like that.

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Seeing their movement data,

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how long it's taken them
to settle in this reserve,

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will be useful for other reserves
who want to do the same thing.

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Your time and your effort
really help with things like,

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hands-on things, 
if we need help lifting something

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or moving things, photos for ID kits,

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like lots of different small contributions

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that add up to larger contributions.

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I hope that this success story

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got you inspired 
and serves as a hopeful reminder.

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When people start seeing 
the benefit of having tourism in the area,

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they are more inclined

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to wanting to keep the area wild

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and they also support these new ventures

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that are being undertaken.

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We want to use tourism to expand,

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you know, conservation areas,

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and not just expand but to ensure
that it sustains itself.