• About ASF
    About ASF

About Us

The ASF team has decades of experience linking rural development to conservation and eco-tourism. Our mission is to facilitate rural economic growth, community ownership, skills development and job creation through responsible and proactive forms of tourism and conservation. We follow a rights-based approach that facilitates the pro-poor impacts of nature-based tourism. We emphasise the role of women as positive agents for long-term change in rural communities. We increase the flow of tangible benefits into the households of local residents via ownership, skills development, fair wages and supply contracts. We do this in partnership with local community-based organisations that encourage fair and equitable distribution of such benefits to their members.

Track Record

Over the past 10 years, the ASF has developed a strong track record of delivery. We have facilitated high impact ecotourism businesses at over 30 rural sites in sub-Saharan Africa. These have involved:

• 28 communities in Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia with more than 48000 members;
• 22 private businesses, 11 government agencies and 25 NGO and donor partners;
• New capital expenditure of just under US$52-million;
• 922 new full-time local jobs with an annual payroll of just over US$4,4-million; and
• Annual income via dividends or rentals of more than US$3,4-million for the partner communities.