City of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Experienced writer with a demonstrated history of working in the leisure, travel and tourism industry. Skilled in Tour Operators, Leisure Safaris Industry, Conservation Issues, Photojournalism, and Optics. Strong consulting professional, graduated from University of Johannesburg. Specialist nature guide and expedition leader focussing on Africa and Asia.
As Conservation Operations Manager at Briandez Legacy Trust, I am responsible for the effective management, growth, and alignment of BLT’s conservation projects and partnerships in Southern Africa.
Consultant for Whylo (Pty) Ltd representing SWAROVSKI OPTIK in the nature observation and birding markets in Africa. Extensive experience with birding optics and end users in the field has put me in the unique position to be able to give independent optics-related opinions and advice to prospective buyers, birders and safari guides based on real-world field usage.
Freelance travel journalism and photographic assignments Martin Benadie got into writing when he realised that he has spent the last 20 years travelling through some of Africa’s most pristine wilderness areas and that there were many stories to tell. He thought that powerful prose and revealing imagery could play a major part in environmental awareness around Africa, its prized natural history and conservation plights. His insightful writing has featured in numerous newspapers and magazines over the years as a result.
IMPACT– Support: Support regional conservation teams to collect, compile and collate species inventory data across taxa (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians) for Wilderness Group in a form that these data can be used for species checklists, WS annual reporting, infographics, and identifying/monitoring conservation priorities. Collate and maintain IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for all Wilderness areas of operation. Bio-monitoring Projects: Work with the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) to continue the Wilderness bird atlasing initiative to map the distribution and relative abundance of all bird species in Wilderness areas. Assist in rolling out similar projects for mammals, reptiles and amphibians for our concession areas which will also tie into the Wilderness Group species inventory database. Working closely with regional sustainability teams on development and implementation of citizen science projects. MARKETING – Writer: Scientific writer, dealing with all writing pertaining wildlife, birding, biology, zoology, botany and environment. Provide unique biodiversity content selling tools/pdfs as to how better differentiate and understand product and areas of operation including ecoguides. Ecology writing of African biomes and ecosystems. Environmental-related collateral, in print or digital, for enhancing in-camp guest experience. SPECIALIST JOURNEYS and GUIDING: Specialist guide, particularly birding and botany. Specialist itinerary compilation for agents – birding, mammals, photography. Itinerary advice to Wilderness Journey Specialists (reservations consultants) as well as agents.
Wilderness Johannesburg: Creative Resource Department - Copy writer and blogger - Photographer: Africa Natural History | Safari Camps & Interiors - Image editing and pre-press color correction (Adobe Photoshop) - Ecotourism Advisor - Specialist Itinerary Compilation Wilderness Explorations: Nature Guide and Tour Leader - with bias towards ornithology, mammal ecology and botany - tailored special-interest safaris for small group - ably hosts photo tours and adept in both Canon and Nikon systems