Nico Nel: A Champion for Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe
Nico has always been an outdoors fanatic, a characteristic evident in his enthusiasm for adrenalin activities such as 4X4 Expeditions, yacht racing and touring and camping.
Born and bred in South Africa, Nico has committed himself to helping Zimbabwe’s Department of Wildlife Management and National Parks and private conservation organisations by seeking donations from South Africa’s corporate sector and beyond, resourcing the beneficiary’s personnel to effectively and efficiently carry out their duties.
As a stepping stone to mark this great adventure, which has spanned for over 10 years, Nico expressed his desire to assist in wildlife conservation to a Zimbabwean friend who then advised him to partner with the Department of Wildlife Management and National Parks, as it needed extensive support due to the ailing economy of the country at the time that disabled the adequate financial and material resourcing of this important government responsibility.
Nico explored conservation efforts in the country which led him to meeting up with an Australian, Mr Nicholas Duncan, the founder of SAVE Foundation (now Save the Rhino Foundation).
“I have a friend in Zimbabwe whose brother was working in Ghana and he said to me if you want to do something for wildlife conservation, you can do nothing better than to offer your services to Zimbabwe National Parks and, in particular, Matusadona where they are tremendously under-resourced. I then searched the web to find other people involved such as the Tashinga Initiative, Zambezi Society, Dart Animal Rescue Trust, International Rhino Fund and Save Foundation Australia,” said Nico.
In supporting the work of Nicholas Duncan, Nico has been actively involved in the assisting game rangers in the country’s national parks with equipment them with tents, lamps and electronic mapping equipment.
Being a humble man, Nico usually shuns media efforts aimed at showcasing his extensive contributions to Wildlife Conservation. In this vein, when pressed for comment, he instead gave a poignant eulogy of Nicholas saying he is the man doing all the work and that his are just but minor additions to Nicholas’ contributions.
“After contact with a friend in Ghana, this led to my association with Nicholas Duncan, an Australian, who established the SAVE Foundation, now Save the Rhino Foundation. He is a man that has been involved with wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe for 27, going on 28 years. For the most part, it is funded by him personally. He was a very keen sportsman in his day and still a keen follower of sport today, particularly cricket and Nicholas raises money through various means including auctioning off Cricket memorabilia. He also raises funds with Nia Carras by running tours to Zimbabwe of mainly Australian tourists. The funds are then used to also buy and re-furbish Land Rovers and Land Cruisers for National Parks and NGO funded wildlife conservationists”.
“In my case it is mainly tents and sleeping bags. I have donated electronic mapping equipment and re-built computers. I have approached Microsoft and have had some support from employees in this regard after going to them formally, hat in hand.
When I discovered rangers camping and lighting their tents with candles, I became concerned about the risk of fire and the threat to the environment so I now supply hundreds of torches.
I approached a friend who is chief of operations at Garmin SA and was very surprised when I was called to his office to find a box waiting for me containing 28 units!!” he said.
Nicholas Duncan visits Zimbabwe two or three times a year in his philanthropic ventures of donating materials to the Zimbabwean community and follows up with those who have previously benefited from his benevolence.
In showing his continuing support and love for Zimbabwe, Nico recently dispatched another expedition to deliver tents for Rangers, supplied by Makro with a generous discount and he continues to plan around other ways in which he and Nicholas Duncan can answer the pressing needs of Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe.
Nico is a great networker and has become associated with much of this fraternity in Zimbabwe, not just the Parks Department but wildlife researchers and activists across the country.
He is also supplying batteries, again through his network within the business community in South Africa.
His love for and commitment to Zimbabwe is illustrated by the name inscribed on off-road camping trailers he recently had custom manufactured to his own design; “Matusadona”.
When travelling through Zimbabwe on his numerous expeditions, Nico distributes school stationery such pencils and exercise books, as a way of reaching out to the children and keeping them in touch with their natural environment.
He also said that the warm welcome and hospitality that he receives from the Zimbabwean Community is also fuelling his desire to continue helping in any way possible. He says he has good memories of the times he has spent in the country.
“In Zimbabwe, right across the board, I have been so well received and find the people, friendly, peaceful and intelligent and the country itself is beautiful. Take for example the Matusadona Mountains which are far more impressive that Table Mountain which isn’t even considered as a rival,” he said.
He believes in the custom of “Ubuntu”; a Southern African ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other.
Referring to the act of giving he said, “…and this is a gift of our love to you and that you have love, health and wealth into the future” and, in explaining his attitude to his life, Nico said, “Having a choice and taking the turn of the road less travelled. I always try and seek challenges and life is only really worth living if you have that courage of character, body and soul to actually exit your comfort zone and experience life to its full”.