The Eastern Cape in South Africa was once home to lions, black rhinos, and elephants. Early British settler records describe frequent encounters with these animals, but much of the land was later converted into farmland. Adrian Gardiner sought to reverse this trend, spearheading efforts to rewild the region by founding the Shamwari Private Game Reserve. His son, Paul Gardiner, a conservationist and entrepreneur, is pursuing an even bolder vision: to create a “mega-biosphere” spanning 5 to 6 million hectares, transforming the Eastern Cape into the next Kruger National Park. Speaking to BizNews during a fireside chat in England, Gardiner outlined plans to connect private reserves via natural corridors, allowing wildlife to roam freely. Inspired by the success of similar projects near Kruger, he acknowledged challenges such as roads, railways, community involvement, and costs, noting that his vision could take decades. Gardiner also highlighted the Eastern Cape’s potential to become home to the Big Seven—not only lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo but also whales and great white sharks.
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Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:00.344)
With me, I have Paul Gardiner. He’s a South African conservationist and entrepreneur, best known for his work in ecotourism and hospitality. He is a director of the Mantis Group, a global hospitality brand. The reason I’m speaking to him today is that he created and hosts the YouTube series Natural Born Runners, a program aimed at highlighting ecotourism.
The last time I caught up with you, Paul, you were in icy Antarctica. I’m joining you here in the south of England, where you’re based. We’re in a boma—the South African way—and talking about your bold vision to create the next Kruger Park in the Eastern Cape.
It’s so nice to see you in person this time, and I’m very grateful to you and our listeners for tuning in to hear this fascinating story. Let’s start with your vision of creating a Kruger Park in the Eastern Cape. Where does this idea come from?
Paul Gardiner (01:10.932)
I grew up in the Eastern Cape with my brother, my sister, and my folks. We lived in Port Elizabeth. My dad’s legacy was creating the first real private game reserve in the Eastern Cape, so we grew up around the whole rewilding project. There was nothing there when he started.
He’d been looking all over southern Africa for a suitable location for a game reserve. He used to visit places like Mala Mala and Sabi Sands as a guest and was so inspired by that model that he wanted to have his own patch of wilderness. He considered Zimbabwe, where he was originally from, as well as other parts of Africa. Eventually, he realised it made sense to do something close to home because the boys were at St Andrews in Grahamstown, he was in PE with my mum, and he could really make it work.
That’s when he started researching the Eastern Cape and the records of the 1820 British settlers. He was gobsmacked by the wildlife they documented encountering in those early days—lions, black rhinos, elephants—you name it. After his realisation of how biodiverse the Eastern Cape once was, he often said that it was probably the right place to have built and established Kruger National Park in the first place.
It’s amazing to think about the biodiversity there. I understand there are nine biomes in the world, and seven of them are in that little corner of Africa. That’s remarkable.
Linda van Tilburg (02:16.686)
So, walk us through your plan—how do you envision bringing about this ‘Kruger of the Eastern Cape’?
Paul Gardiner (02:34.812)
I wouldn’t say it’s entirely my plan—there are lots of players behind it. When Dad started his patch of land 30 years ago, it became known as Shamwari Game Reserve, which is very well established today. We no longer own Shamwari, but we do own a small piece of land adjacent to it called Founders Lodge. It’s a commercial lodge, and we do all our game drives and traversing into Shamwari.
When Dad started Shamwari, all the local farmers and communities laughed at him. They thought he was crazy to try bringing back elephants and building a business around it. But then, in 1995, the Rugby World Cup happened. We’d just come out of apartheid, Nelson Mandela donned the green and gold, and South Africa won the tournament. That opened the floodgates to tourism, and suddenly, this little game reserve was in the right place at the right time.
It was at the end of the Garden Route, close to Cape Town, and Dad coined the phrase “the malaria-free safari.” Tourism arrived in a big way, and Shamwari was perfectly primed for it. Those farmers who’d laughed at Dad soon realised they were missing a trick. They started replacing their sheep, goats, and cattle with wildlife, establishing wildlands of their own.
Fast forward to today, and there must be close to 20 private game reserves around Shamwari now. Addo Elephant Park, a national park, was only about 11,000 hectares in the early 90s. Today, it’s nearly a quarter of a million hectares and has returned the Big Five to the area. So, both private sector and government initiatives have come together to create what we see today.
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Linda van Tilburg (04:38.294)
You mentioned the fences around the reserves. What’s the plan to connect them?
Paul Gardiner (04:43.726)
Right, so that’s where it gets interesting. At the moment, we have all these private reserves—Shamwari, Lalibela, Amakhala, Kariega, Kwandwe, and Kumba—but they’re fenced off, and there are still regular farming activities in between.
The idea is to open things up by tearing down fences and establishing corridors between reserves. It’s not a new idea; it’s been done around Kruger National Park. Up there, they were lucky because they could feed off Kruger’s wildlife—tear down a fence, and the animals naturally spread out. In the Eastern Cape, we’ve had to start from scratch and bring the wildlife back, which has been far more challenging.
For instance, Amakhala is split by the N2 highway, but they’ve recently received permission to let animals pass under the highway bridge over the Bushman’s River. I was sceptical—I mean, can you imagine an elephant crossing under a highway? But just last week, I heard from a landowner there that elephants, lions, and even cheetahs are now using the corridor. It’s incredible.
The key will be partnering with farmers to create natural corridors in areas where farming activity is lower, like deeper valleys. It’s a complex process, but it’s coming together.
Linda van Tilburg (07:01.761)
It sounds ambitious. Would there be political or community challenges?
Paul Gardiner (07:08.723)
Certainly. We’ll need constitutions similar to those used in the Kruger area. For example, if an animal crosses into a private farm, there need to be agreements about access for vehicles and visitors.
We’re also engaging with Eastern Cape Parks, which is working on a similar mission to link Addo Elephant Park with the Great Fish River Reserve. Communities will play a big role too. Many of them own land that’s currently underutilised, so there’s an opportunity to integrate them into the plan. By leasing land for conservation or tourism, they could gain far more value than they do from subsistence farming.
Linda van Tilburg (09:20.205)
What would this mean for wildlife and the region as a whole?
Paul Gardiner (09:24.675)
It’s massive. The socio-economic impact—job creation, skills development, schools, clinics—would be transformative. For wildlife, it means bringing back species that once thrived there. For example, wild dogs can’t currently survive in the small, fenced reserves we have now, but with corridors, they could thrive again.
It’s also an opportunity to bring in innovative funding mechanisms like rhino bonds or carbon credits. These initiatives, while complex, could help fund the entire project and attract global investment.
Linda van Tilburg (16:17.921)
In 20 years, what do you think the Eastern Cape could look like?
Paul Gardiner (16:22.459)
I see it as a mega-biosphere reserve—a mix of private reserves, national parks, and community land. It could be like the Okavango Delta, where visitors move between reserves and down to the coast. Addo already offers a marine element with whales and great white sharks, so we could truly showcase the Big Seven.
The Eastern Cape has so much potential. With less pressure from nearby communities and vast, rural landscapes, it could become a conservation model for the world.
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