August 2011 – The Wilderness Group is thrilled to announce its 4Cs Hero for 2011 – Master Banda of Chintheche Inn, Malawi. The 4Cs Hero is an award that recognises and rewards the achievements of a member of the Wilderness staff who is an ‘unsung hero’, someone who, often behind the scenes, is involved in the furtherance of Wilderness’ vision of making a difference and changing lives through our 4Cs sustainability framework: commerce, conservation, community and culture.

The ‘4Cs’ is a concept adopted from the Zeitz Foundation (www.zeitzfoundation.org). This concept suggests that no organisation can be truly sustainable unless it addresses the four dimensions of Conservation (Biodiversity and Environmental Management Systems), Community (staff and neighbouring communities), Culture and Commerce: the 4Cs.

The 4Cs Hero nominees therefore are all involved in the day-to-day implementation of our 4Cs philosophies, their work embodying some or all the aspects of the 4Cs.

The nominees came from different levels of staff, from camps’ back of house to the offices:

• Charles Mdluli, Maintenance, Little Makalolo, Zimbabwe
• Donald Lisama, Toka Leya, Zambia
• Elliot Mokhobo, Environment Assistant, North Island
• Grant Atkinson, Guide, Linyanti Concession, Botswana
• Jack Chakanga, Environmental Officer, Windhoek
• Master Banda, Gardener, Chintheche Inn, Malawi
• Tracy Bamber, Head of Marketing Services, Johannesburg

Nominations were made in each of the countries in which Wilderness operates by the Managing Directors in charge of country operations and then the entire staff body voted, with Master Banda garnering the highest vote of all the nominees.

Master has a background in forestry and has dedicated his working life to combating deforestation in Malawi, coordinating the planting, growing and distribution of over 10 000 seedlings in the Chintheche area. He also brings 35 children from the Children in the Wilderness programme to the nursery twice a week to learn first-hand about tree conservation.

Master was elated and humbled at his award and stated: “I also thank Lucius Mveya, my assistant, for being dedicated to our duties in uplifting people’s lives out there, the managers and management at Chintheche Inn for nominating me and all the staff in Wilderness Safaris. I would like to say that all the nominees are doing great work. I feel honoured to have been included in such a wonderful group of people. I hope they continue their great work to uplift people and animals’ lives and protecting the environment.”

Master will be awarded P10 000 in recognition of his efforts and commitment to the 4Cs. Wilderness will also donate P10 000 to a group sustainability project of Master’s choice: “After careful thought, I would like to nominate Donald Lisama from Zambia to be the recipient of the prize. I read about his tree project and I was really impressed with what he was doing. With the extra funds I am sure his project can be taken to another level and be of great assistance to many families in the community.”

Wilderness would like to congratulate Master as well as all the nominees for the award and thank all Wilderness staff for their enthusiasm and support in working towards the vision of the 4Cs, essential to the soul of the business.

Notes to editor:

• Wilderness is a conservation organisation made up of ecotourism companies and non-profit trusts that believes in using responsible tourism to build sustainable conservation economies in Africa. We do this by creating journeys through the most remote and beautiful wild areas in southern Africa for our guests while at the same time sharing the benefits of tourism with local communities.
• Through our travel divisions – Wilderness Safaris, Wilderness Adventures, Wilderness Explorations and Wilderness Air – we operate a portfolio of some 70 lodges, camps and safaris in nine African countries: Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Namibia, Malawi, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Our non-profit trusts – Children in the Wilderness and the Wilderness Wildlife Trust – ensure we make a difference in Africa, benefiting its people, places and wildlife.

OUR JOURNEYS CHANGE LIVES

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