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Welcome to Basecamp Foundation USA

We work for the survival of wildlife and advancement of the Maasai people, two groups that live together and share the extraordinary Maasai Mara land today, as they have for centuries. Our goal is to ensure that the indigenous people, animals, and environment all benefit from tourism in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and from contributions by global citizens dedicated to protecting and advancing this fierce and fragile eco-system.
Our Mission

Our Mission

Ensure the indigenous people, animals, and environment benefit from tourism in the Masai Mara, and from contributions by global citizens dedicated to protecting and advancing this fierce and fragile eco-system.
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Critical Projects

Critical Projects

With your help, our commitment to the extraordinary land and people of the Masai Mara will continue into the next decades. Learn more about the impact of the Wildlife Tourism College and how you can support.
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Get Involved

Get Involved

Join us on an unforgettable trip to the Maasai Mara or make a tax deductible contribution. Your support helps continue our work of ensuring the survival of wildlife as well as the advancement of the Maasai people.
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The Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem

Over 40% of Africa’s large mammals live in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, which is just 1/1000th of the land mass of Africa.

It is home to 70 large mammal species and 500 bird species.

The “Great Migration” is considered one of the 10 natural wonders of the world.  It occurs when millions of grazing animals cross the Mara River from Tanzania to spend July through October on the Maasai Mara.  This migration includes many of the 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra, and 470,000 gazelle living in this region.

The Mara-Serengeti ecosystem is one of the last major wildlife refuges on earth, stretching 9,650 square miles from the Ngorongoro Highlands in Tanzania to the Loita Hills of southern Kenya.  It is one of the most diverse and spectacular wildlife conservation areas on earth.

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Map of Mara-Serengeti and its place in Kenya and Tanzania.

Saving the Maasai Mara

Home of the Greatest Animal Migration on Earth
Home to One of the Most Unique Cultures in History:  The Maasai

The Maasai Mara in Kenya is being fundamentally transformed.  Large developers and agro-businesses are buying traditional Maasai lands for commercial purposes, and fencing off the natural migration routes of millions of wild animals. Many of the Maasai people are being displaced, and losing their historic way of life, which has existed for thousands of years.

As a result of these developments and other environmental changes over the past 20 years, the populations of major species – lions, elephants, giraffes, and more – are threatened and in decline. The Maasai people are unwillingly being forced into a “modern lifestyle” for which they are ill-prepared. If this trend is not reversed, the tragic result will be the loss one of the most unique environments in the world.

The very good news is that Basecamp Foundation is reversing this tragic trend through a series of  local conservation agreements and with the support of the Maasai people.

We believe that the Mara can be saved. It is not too late.

Reversing the Course of Wildlife Decline

The African continent has been losing its iconic animals at an alarming rate:  a 40 percent loss on all African species in the last 40 to 50 years;  and in this same time span, a 90-95% loss of key species including rhinos, elephants, lions and other iconic predators.

BUT SOME GOOD NEWS!  After 20 years of dedication, experimentation, and hard work by Basecamp, locals, and international individuals and organizations, what was once the accelerating loss of wildlife in the Maasai Mara is being reversed.  Animal populations have increased dramatically during the years 2014-2017.*

Elephants increased from 1,448 to 2,493
Cape Buffalo increased from 7,542 to 9,466
Giraffes increased from 1,619 to 2,607
The Maasai Mara also contains the highest densities of lions and cheetahs in Africa.

*Statistics provided by the Kenya Wildlife Service

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Get Involved!

Because of climate change, an 8% annual population growth on the Mara, 80% youth unemployment, and fencing of traditionally open migration corridor, success over the next decades is far from certain.

We need your support to make these increases in wildlife sustainable, and to provide a model for the rest of Africa and the world. 

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Five Integrated Factors to Success

There are five critical – and integrated – components leading to the resurgence
of animal populations on the Maasai Mara. If one fails, they all fail.

Maasai Advancement

Maasai Advancement

Training, education and employment are key to a better quality of life for the indigenous Maasai.

Sustainable Eco-Tourism

Eco-Tourism

Along with donations, tourist income provides lease payments to Maasai landowners, which in turn preserves historic animal migration corridors.

Regenerative Eco-System

Regenerative Eco-System

Managing water, grazing and migration corridors ensures sustainable biodiversity and a regenerative ecosystem.

Maasai Cultural Experience

Maasai Cultural Experience

Experiences with the unique Maasai culture brings tourists (and with them, vital funds) to the region each year.

Wildlife and Migration Corridor Protection

Wildlife & Migration Corridor Protection

Lease payments to landowners ensure that animal migration corridors remain open and unfenced.

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We Need Your Help

Striving for sustainability on the Mara

Already, $1.3 million has been raised for the Wildlife Tourism College (WTC) which entirely funds construction costs of this new, first-of-its-kind campus.  Among the facilities are a new Guide School, a Maasai Trade School, and an Edu-Tourism School for international students. Now, our goal is to raise $600,000 for the first three years of operations. These funds will:

  • Provide scholarships to deserving students
  • Allow recruitment and hiring of outstanding instructors and staff
  • Market EduTourism programs
  • Support initial operating expenses

After three years, the WTC will be self-sustaining; income from the college and from safari operations will support the school entirely.

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Indigenous Maasai people in class at the Wildlife Tourism College in Kenya.

Basecamp and the Maasai

A Sustainable Partnership for More Than 20 Years

For more than two decades, Basecamp has partnered with local Maasai to establish protections for precious, iconic species of wildlife and the preservation and advancement of the Maasai people and their unique culture.  We are passionate in our goal to insure this wondrous place will be here for our children’s children to witness.

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