Derek Keeping

The Kalahari may be the largest least-disturbed ecosystem remaining south of the Sahara. I've been privileged to explore its wild reaches and work closely together with its local inhabitants that has left me awed and humbled by their knowledge, perspective, and humanity. I have also been with visitors and witnessed time and again the seemingly universal effect that this place has on people - touched in some way by the atmosphere of the Kalahari to experience "very reverently" a landscape that is "what nature was like in the beginning, and a reminder of what nature meant us to be".

There is inestimable value to these experiences and what they do to renew the human spirit. I find the prospect of Earth without wilderness plainly unbearable. That's why I am involved with Comanis. More than single-species efforts at conservation, Comanis continues to work towards solutions for the conservation of wild places and all of their endangered phenomena. I'm beginning to realize the difference that a small group of dedicated people can make. This is work really worth doing, positive changes that give hope to landscapes, wildlife and livelihoods, and I invite you Dear Reader to support it.
Who knows, maybe we'll see you around a Kalahari campfire some starry night ahead . . .

Dr. Derek Keeping, Conservation Biologist, Researcher