The 10,000 acre portion of land upon which Ndolwa House is based borders Tsavo West National Park and has been leased from community owned Oza Group Ranch.

Here Marcus and Shikha are working to develop a wildlife sanctuary and a conservation project with the interests of both wildlife and communities in mind. As keen naturalists dedicated to protecting the pristine ­natural habitat, they are educating the local community to conserve and not destroy the land via human settlement and non-viable agricultural practices. At the same time they aim to create a bigger sanctuary incorporating three community owned group ranches and an important wildlife corridor between Tsavo West and Tsavo East National Park particularly for elephant migrating between the two Parks thereby minimizing human-animal conflict.

The ‘tourism for conservation’ ethos of Ndolwa House channels an annual rental fee plus a daily visitor conservation fee direct to the local community. This creates an understanding and awareness amongst community landowners of the value that magnificent wildlife habitats are as a source of valuable and much needed revenue if managed correctly and that common ground exists for both community and conservation templates on the same pocket of land.

Furthermore, while encouraging a community to develop socially and economically by sustaining itself through its natural resources, it is possible to ensure the protection of a part of the world’s heritage for future generations to come.