Terra Incognita \"ter-a-in-kag-net-a"\ [L] (1616): unknown territory: an unexplored country.

Conservation Partners

In each destination we visit, we partner with a local conservation project, this partnership helps improve their ability to continue the vital conservation work they perform, and the partnership benefits our travelers by both providing an in-depth behind the scenes look at local conservation challenges, and provides our travelers with the assurance that their visit has had a positive local impact, that their visit has indeed made a difference.

Indeed this partnership ensures that we make a difference to you and to the places we visit.

BELIZE
Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center
(Harpy Eagle Restoration Program)
www.belizezoo.org

The Harpy Eagle is considered nearly extirpated in Central America. The Belize Zoo, in partnership with the Peregrine Fund, the Government of Belize and the Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area, is working to restore these magnificent birds back into the Maya Forest. The Harpy Eagle is considered to be the world's most massive eagle, and has been severely reduced in number primarily due to being shot. The zoo runs an aggressive environmental education program in conjunction with this important fieldwork.

BORNEO
Red Ape Encounters and Adventures
www.redapeencounters.com

Red Ape Encounters and Adventures is a community-based Orang Utan ecotourism company, that operates from the village of Sukau in the lower Kinabatangan. This unique venture ensures that ecotourism helps to conserve and protect the Orang Utan in its natural habitat.

BRAZIL
Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative
www.ipe.org.br

The Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative headed by Patricia Medici is a program of the Brazilian NGO called IPÊ - Instituto Pesquisas de Ecologicas (Institute for Ecological Research). The Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative started in 1996 with the main goal of promoting the research and conservation of lowland tapirs and their remaining habitats across multiple Brazilian biomes, including the Pantanal.

COSTA RICA
Fundacion Conservacionista Costaricense
(The Costa Rican Conservation Foundation)
www.fccmonteverde.org

The Costa Rican Conservation Foundation (CRCF), is a non-profit foundation working to:

RWANDA
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project
www.mgvp.org

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project is a program of the Maryland Zoo. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) provides much needed health care to the highly endangered mountain gorillas in the countries of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of few conservation programs in the world to provide health care and treatment to an endangered species in its natural habitat.

The African Conservation Foundation
www.africanconservation.org

The African Conservation Foundation (ACF) works to preserve Africa’s wild heritage by conducting field projects as well as supporting and linking conservation initiatives throughout the continent. ACF’s mission is to find approaches for integrating biodiversity conservation into the economic livelihood activities of communities in a given landscape.

MADAGASCAR
Projet Angonoka, a program of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
www.durrellwildlife.org

In 1993 the population of Angonoka (Ploughshare tortoise) was estimated to be between 100 and 400. To save these unique tortoises, Projet Angonoka was established in 1986 by the Malagasy Department of Waters and Forests and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Projet Angonoka includes research, captive breeding, and the participation of the local communities. The project has been very successful, and more than 150 baby tortoises have been born at the breeding center. Some of the captive born tortoises are being returned to the wild.