Governance

Leadership

Clear and dedicated leadership results in effective impact. Meet the people who drive change at Wilderness Trust.

Board Members

The Wilderness Trust is managed by an independent board of trustees. The Wilderness Trust Board meets periodically, in person or by round robin, to discuss and agree on strategy, review financial summaries, approve funding plans, and consider applications received for funding of projects and initiatives. It also periodically receives reports from the implementers of such projects, in order to monitor progress towards its goals.

Chairman

Charles Douglas

Charles Douglas is an M&A attorney with more than 20 years of experience in the legal profession. He is a partner, and member of the partnership board, remuneration committee and sustainability committee, of Bowmans.

Malcolm McCulloch

Malcolm McCulloch is a Chartered Accountant with more than 40 years of experience. He is a former CEO and current board member of listed and unlisted companies. He has been involved with the Wilderness Group since 1992 and is currently a trustee of the Wilderness Trust, and has been a board member of Children in the Wilderness since 2001.

Olivia Mufute

Olivia Mufute is a wildlife ecologist with Masters’ degrees in conservation and natural resource management, and over 25 years of experience in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. She has extensive experience in ecology, policy development and implementation of multi-lateral environmental agreements including CITES.

Basilia Shivute

Basilia Shivute has an MBA from the African Leadership University, accumulating more than 15 years' hands-on experience in project management, community-based conservation, biodiversity management, sustainable tourism, and environmental awareness. Having started her career with Wilderness, she now has a leadership position with a community-based NGO in the north-western Kunene Region of Namibia.

Dr John Ledger

John Ledger has had a varied career including medical entomologist, heading a conservation NGO, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, teaching at the universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg, consulting on environmental issues, such as the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, as well as writing for and editing various journals and publications, mainly in the environmental and conservation fields.

Derek de la Harpe

Derek is a Fellow of the Botswana and Zimbabwe Institutes of Chartered Accountants, with more than 40 years of experience in Southern and Eastern Africa. He has been an executive director of Wilderness Holdings Limited since April 2010. He is the Wilderness Group’s Chief Risk and Corporate Affairs Officer.

More about the Trust

History

A brief history of the Wilderness Trust and its historic milestones.

View timeline

Financials

A financial overview of the activities of the Wilderness Trust and associated entities.

Ways to Contribute

Donors have the choice to contribute to general funds, a particular Impact category (Educate; Empower; Protect), or even a specific project. Since our US-based fundraising partner, Empowers Africa, charges only nominal administration costs, and the Wilderness Trust does not charge any fees at all, donors are assured their monies are being spent completely on their chosen component.

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