At Comvita, one of our core values is guardianship and we believe in working in harmony with bees and nature to help protect and heal the land. Our partnership with Saving the Wild is part of our Harmony Plan.

The Saving the Wild Beekeeping Project, implemented on the ground by Big Life Foundation, is about helping restore and strengthen the delicate balance between humans and nature, whilst generating positive social outcomes in our global communities - starting in the Kimana Wildlife Corridor.

Set between the 1.6 million acres in the​ Amboseli-Tsavo-Kilimanjaro ecosystem, the​ Kimana Wildlife Corridor is a critical wildlife​ dispersal area and is the only remaining way​ for wildlife to access the wider ecosystem to​ the east.

The Saving the Wild Beekeeping Project was created to protect the corridor and help reduce further habitat loss. Over 200 hives (and counting) have been placed within the corridor and the bees are doing what they do best – pollinating the land and helping create a more robust ecosystem. ​While the bees are doing their job, the local Maasai community who also live within the corridor are learning how to care for the bees and their hives.

Beekeeping has given them financial stability and independence with profits from the harvest going directly back into the community. Educational scholarship funds have been set up to help Maasai children have the opportunity to go to school, with 70% directed at young women.

The project gives the Maasai community the opportunity to work with their land and make it more profitable, rather than having to sell or lease it to commercial farmers. There are plans for more hives to be placed in the corridor and pass hive ownership to local women, helping to further build harmony between wildlife and people. Read more about Saving the Wild Women.

You too can help support nature in need, by donating to Saving the Wild.

In October 2020, Head of Comvita Apiaries Carlos Zevallos, travelled to the Kimana region in Kenya to share his 35 years of beekeeping knowledge. Carlos is pictured here with local Maasai people who will care for the bees over the coming seasons.

In Africa, beehives must be well protected from the local wildlife and weather. Here the project team construct wired houses to house new hives. Despite the protection, the local honey badgers still managed to claw their way through the wire and help themselves to some of the honey comb. Recent improvements seem to be keeping them out for now.