Activities

The ASF has provided transaction advice to numerous communities, private sector tourism investors and conservation managers who have entered into Community Private Partnerships in the tourism sector. We remain advisers to the communities, the conservation authorities and the private developers after the projects have begun. This enables us to manage conflicts that can arise in these partnerships. All parties see us as facilitators who want the projects to work for the benefit of all.

The ASF sources and manages financial investments from private businesses, philanthropic foundations, government programmes and a range of finance institutions interested in promoting the connection between nature tourism and rural development. These funds – including an interest-free loan facility managed on behalf of the Ford Foundation - has helped several communities to become shareholders in the tourism products on their land, which is an advance over the more traditional approaches where community benefit is restricted to labour and, in some instances, rent collection.

The ASF is committed to the upliftment of communities through various programmes and initiatives. In 2012 The South African National Lotteries  Commission provided a grant to the ASF to help professionalise and transform nature-guiding in South Africa. The ASF has designed and presented training programmes and workshops to the Concessions Unit of the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the SA Wildlife College and South African National Parks. 

The ASF participates in numerous forums and meetings that contribute to an enabling environment for community participation in responsible tourism. We are regarded as one of the leading organisations in the ecotourism-community benefit sector. For example, we made presentations at the 2003 and 2014 IUCN World Parks Congresses, which highlighted some of our projects and the lessons learnt, as well as to the South African Institute for International Affairs.