LOZIBA
WILDLIFE RESERVE
A +30,000ha conservation economy in South Africa’s Thaka Valley, where wildlife thrives with local communities, not at their expense
About us
The Loziba Wildlife Reserve is situated in the heart of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal, in the Thaka Valley. It lies within Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany, one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots.
The landscape is made up of a mosaic of rolling grasslands, wild savanna, riverine thickets, and forested woodlands, with distinct plant communities. Together, they form crucial habitats for a broad variety of fauna and flora.
The Thaka Valley represents a critical frontier for conservation action. It is a place where nature's magnificence endures, but is under threat. Every effort needs to be made to protect and restore the life it holds.
An Ecosystem Under Threat
Overgrazing
Invasive Species
Poaching
Mining
Decades of environmental degradation from unsustainable land use practices have resulted in habitat fragmentation and loss, soil erosion and widespread wildlife depletion.
Escalating threats are putting significant strain on the biodiversity, water security, and natural assets that local communities depend on.
Our Approach
The Loziba Wildlife Reserve operates as a partnership, bringing together a contiguous block of community and privately-owned properties into a single ecological entity, where wildlife can roam freely. Community interests are held by Community Property Associations monitored by African Conservancies to ensure the highest standards of governance and transparency.
The land will have a shared governance system, centred around conservation and sustainable land practices. It will seek to maximise income generation potential to participating communities’ benefit, restore the landscape and protect its wildlife.
Activities will centre around three pillars:
01
02
03
Ecosystem Conservation & Wildlife Management
Supporting Local Communities
Conservation Research, Education & Eco-tourism
Born From A Powerful Mission
The Ghosts of Loziba, a native herd of 30+ elephants in need of protection, lie at the heart of Loziba's origin story.
They strayed beyond their initial enclosure into the Thaka Valley, a landscape seeing increased habitat degradation and poaching. The area's iconic species were pushed to local extinction. The Ghosts of Loziba lived under constant threat. With fences broken, the elephants wandered close to surrounding communities, with tragic consequences, including multiple sanctioned elephant deaths.
Beyers Coetzee stepped in: he worked tirelessly to protect the herd, shepherding them away from villages and farms to safeguard people and wildlife alike. He recognised that many of these communities had long been overlooked, grappling with high unemployment, a lack of basic infrastructure and subsisting on marginal farming practices.
Seeking a longer-term solution, Beyers, Grant Fowlds (conservationist), and Sbu Jiyane (Zulu chief) advanced a bold plan: to build a conservation economy by establishing a +30,000ha wildlife reserve where animals can roam freely. The Loziba Wildlife Reserve would protect biodiversity and deliver tangible benefits to local communities.
Tragically, Beyers lost his life protecting the elephants he sought to save, underscoring the deep personal commitment that fuels Loziba’s mission to this day.
"…the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those we put up ourselves, and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves”
Lawrence Anthony, The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
Tribute to Beyers By Una Coetzee
"It has been a long struggle and journey to make Loziba happen. We have lost so much but the wheel can only turn for the good and within some time, in the near future, we trust that Loziba will be a great destiny for all the weary, immortal souls just like Beyers. May his soul always rest in peace, at Loziba, and may God grant us the strength to endure this great pain."
“It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”
Samuel Butler
Photography by Theo Limouzin
Our Partners
