Meaning “The Return” in Zulu, “Phinda” is an exemplary example of successful responsible tourism - firstly restoring misused farmland to its pristine state over 16 years ago, restocking it with the Big Five and other wildlife and developing it into an award-winning ecotourism destination; and now returning the land to its ancestral owners. Phinda’s pioneering land-claim settlement proves that if the communities surrounding conservation areas truly feel the benefit of ecotourism, they too will support ongoing conservation and biodiversity of pristine reserves for the benefit of future generations.

17 March 2008 marked a joyous and momentous occasion at &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve as R18 million was handed over from &Beyond to our two landlord communities surrounding the Reserve.

In August 2007, &Beyond and the Makhasa and Mnqobokazi community leaders signed a groundbreaking land restitution deal which restored 9 500 hectares of the Reserve to the ancestral owners of the land. Now, as landlords, these communities will continue to share meaningfully in the benefits of conservation and ecotourism and will receive substantial, escalating rental from the Phinda land. They have engaged &Beyond to continue running the business of Phinda for the next 72 years, and the communities have in turn committed the land to wildlife in perpetuity.