My name is Valentin Grüner, founder of the Modisa Wildlife Project in Botswana. I manage a 70 square kilometer wildlife reserve in the Kalahari. Ten years ago, a lion cub needed my help, and since then I have never left Sirga's side. She now lives in a 2,000-hectare part of the reserve, and together we roam the solitary Kalahari.
If you would like to visit me in the Kalahari, you can do so through the "interactive guest program" of the Modisa Wildlife Project.
„I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.“
– Valentin Grüner, Löwenland
My Mission
Since the 1950s, about 90% of wild lions have disappeared in Africa, including in the Kalahari. The expansion of humans has been relentless—not only small-scale farmers trying to wrest a living from nature, but also large commercial cattle ranchers who have tried to tame the wild Kalahari for their own use. With the Modisa Wildlife Project, I find myself on the frontline between wilderness and civilization. Sirga is also a consequence of this ongoing conflict. Despite this, Botswana still hosts some of the largest national parks and wild areas in the world today. The preservation and responsible management of these last truly wild areas in Africa are crucial for the future existence of lions, leopards, and the like.
My goal is to significantly contribute to the protection of these habitats, increasingly fragmented by human activity. Through my work, I hope to establish a project where ecotourism allows people worldwide to participate in nature conservation and sustainable living in the Kalahari. Simultaneously, I aim to create a place where the local population can come to know and love their own flora and fauna. Ultimately, it will be the people in Africa who decide how these last wild paradises on Earth are used and whether and how they are preserved.
Igniting a passion for the natural environment and offering the chance to earn a good living through working with nature are two crucial pillars for successful conservation in Africa.
