Focus on hotels: Rewilding takes root: Travel Weekly

Bringing back the mountain bongo

Since June 2022, the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, which sits within the 1,000-plus-acre Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy nature reserve in Nanyuki, has stepped up its sustainability focus, working in tandem with the conservancy to funnel more guest interest — and more guest dollars — toward rewilding.

“When we reopened after the pandemic, we started having more discussions about how we could go further and support the conservancy, the wildlife and the community,” said Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club general manager Veronique Delattre, adding that the property charges a $20 conservation fee per stay.

Although the conservancy’s land is home to a variety of wildlife, it has made it a priority to breed and rewild the mountain bongo, a critically endangered, forest-dwelling antelope. The mountain bongo breeding program, launched by the organization in 2004, began with the repatriation of a handful of bongos from U.S. zoos. Today, the conservancy expects to have successfully rewilded around 50 mountain bongos by 2025 in what is now a dedicated sanctuary for the animals.

The conservancy has also focused on planting Prunus africana (African cherry) and other tree species that mountain bongos find especially delicious.

To fuel guest curiosity, the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club encourages visitors to take safari tours of the surrounding reserve via bike or horseback, which unlike motor vehicles, “don’t over-stress the animals,” Delattre said. Guests can also purchase tickets to visit the property’s Animal Orphanage, which is home to animals that are either injured, too young to be rewilded or otherwise require extra attention. Proceeds from the ticket sales go toward orphanage operations and other conservation initiatives.

“To run our facilities, including the bongo program, requires about $1 million every year,” said Dr. Robert Aruho, head of the conservancy. “It’s a big financial budget. And that’s why the presence of the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club is so important, because by the time guests leave, they really see themselves as conservation partners with us.”

Giving guests a behind-the-scenes look is also a part of the playbook at the Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, which opened in 2022 and is nestled within more than 3,000 acres of nature reserve on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Resident biologist Francisco “Paco” Javier Leon Gonzalez helps oversee the reserve’s reforestation initiatives, which include the germination and planting of several endangered species of palm tree. According to Gonzalez, it can take around two years for a single palm to grow large enough to rewild.

“It’s a huge effort and time investment,” Gonzalez said.

That investment, however, is paying off, as a growing number of guests are expressing interest in joining Gonzalez on his nature Discovery Walks, which are complimentary and offered daily. In early 2023, the property also launched a Night Safari experience, giving guests the opportunity to get up close and personal with the reserve’s nighttime wildlife.

“One of the things we decided to do when it comes to activities is not put focus on the adventure [side of things], which many, many places already do,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve decided to focus on nature, how to appreciate it, how to enjoy it and how to protect it.”

In Rajasthan, India, the Six Senses Fort Barwara is similarly hoping to put its natural surroundings at the center of the guest experience. Opened in 2021, the property, which is housed within a walled fort, is still in the early stages of rewilding the relatively barren landscape just beyond its walls, which has suffered from long-term groundwater depletion. 

Siddharth Chakravarty, director of sustainability at the Six Senses Fort Barwara, is leading the charge, which thus far has involved the creation of an irrigation network that will eventually be powered by solar pumps. The next stage involves the reintroduction of trees and other vegetation, including a flowering tree locally known as khejri (Prosopis cineraria) and another varietal known as babul (Acacia nilotica). Once completed, they hope this phase is followed by the return of native animals like leopards, foxes and civets.

Chakravarty, who helps lead a sustainability walk for guests three times a week, has seen guest interest in the property’s rewilding efforts increase over the past year. In November alone, he said, 665 Six Senses Fort Barwara guests opted to join the walk.

“We get bombarded with questions,” said Chakravarty, adding that he’s in the process of prepping colleagues to be better able to field guest queries related to rewilding and sustainability.