About Us
About Eco Group Africa
The concept of the Eco Group Africa rural socio-economic development plan has been in the making for decades
The essential ingredients have a long and intense history shaped into diverse building blocks which, in retrospect, have culminated in a meaningful development path for ourselves and could now perhaps find wider application as a kind of blueprint for generations to come.
Founders of the eco guild at the self-built workshop also functioning as community hall, events venue and sleeping quarters.
Ekogilde
Call it an initiation school if you want, but the essence of our current project was moulded by our mentor and teacher PROF ERIK HOLM 40 years ago in 1983.
On his own small holding in the mountains of the Hartebeespoort dam near Pretoria he and his family created an environment where numerous groups of young adults, students and school children could themselves enthusiastically lay the foundations of their own lives by learning the skills needed for a multitude of handcrafts, house building, culture, literature, earth care, eco lifestyle and much, much more.
Groothoek experimental farm in the Waterberg
After ‘graduating’ from the ‘Ekogilde School of Life’ a certain life-long student Schack together with his wife Ingrid emigrated to the Limpopo Province in South Africa. He started his career in agriculture and conservation as a rural veterinarian, ecological consultant, game ranch developer, big game capturer and rhino whisperer.
The first step after settling in Thabazimbi was to set up business during which time over three decades he travelled twice the distance to the moon and back in pursuit of work in rural Southern Africa.
The second step was to build a house, build workshops where mainly wildlife management equipment was manufactured, start vegetable gardens from which family, employees and guests could be nourished, build accommodation for trainees, international exchange students, farm managers and recently also tourists from around the globe.
Groothoek farm will remain at the heart of our project and will function as the pilot hub for skills and enterprise development for the rural population, hopefully for generations to come.
Wildlife Management
The core business of our company EKO WILD (PTY) LTD was to help develop game ranching and conservation in South and Southern Africa as environment friendly alternatives to traditional land use options.
Wildlife management is our business.
Immobilizing a white rhino
Capturing kudu in passive capture bomas
Our Associates
| COMPANY | FUNCTION | NOTES |
| Eco Group Africa (Pty) Ltd | Think Tank Treasury Project planning | Currently the Group is a loose association with a possibility of converting to a holding company depending on stakeholder and shareholder involvement in all entities. |
| Eco Parks in Africa (Pty) Ltd | Land management company | The company takes up equity in farms, reserves and parks and assists landowners to become successful entrepreneurs. On reaching operational and production targets, the company might decide to (partially?) exit ventures to focus on new start-up enterprises. |
| Izindlovu Productions (Pty) Ltd | Film company | Educational conservation and agricultural content production. |
| Sustainable Earth Africa Channel (Pty) Ltd | Media company | Digital training and education platform. Also, awareness and marketing campaigns. |
| Sustainable Earth Africa Foundation (Pty) Ltd | Investment fund – nonprofit | International fundraising institution. |
| Eko Wild (Pty) Ltd | Wildlife Management company | Highly experienced consultancy and practical project implementation firm. |
| Global Awareness Awakening Action Programme (Pty) Ltd | Digital platform to motivate and mobilize individuals around the globe to participate in various listed conservation and environmental healing projects. | Innovative mechanism to reach out to conservations, donors, the youth and unemployed. |
| Moloto Eco Developments (Pty) Ltd | Rural training hub in the Limpopo Province of the RSA | Central hub in Thabazimbi to provide theoretical and practical training to rural sectors of the economy. |
| Vets for Rural Africa Projects (Pty) Ltd | Community Development Facilitators | Professional community leaders to act as catalysts for rural development. |
| African Rural Community Development Trust | Key advisory and facilitation institution for educational, skills training and business development programmes for disadvantaged individuals and communities. Will be properly constituted as soon as the advisory board has been established. | Knowledgeable and experienced members of society to oversee education, training, and business development programmes. |
| African Rhino Conservation Company (Pty) Ltd | Specific purpose initiative for rhino conservation to act as anchor mechanism for broader wildlife conservation through utilization programmes all over the region. | Specialist initiative bringing avant garde knowledge, experience, and techniques to conservation frontlines. |
| Skills for Africa (Pty) Ltd | Accredited agricultural skills training provider | Top level institution with more than 20 years’ experience in the field. Courses provided in all official South African languages. |
| New Urban Architects | Eco-friendly residential and urban design | Highly experienced and creative design company. |
| Crafford and Crafford Architects | Africa lodge design | Top level designs for developments in national parks and game reserves. |
| Agri Sapientia (Pty) Ltd | Agri-planning and developments | Bringing together stakeholders, communities, entrepreneurs and funders and equipping production units with state-of-the-art technologies to optimize production and to mitigate future climatic challenges. |