ZARA TANZANIA ADVENTURES: BEST COMPANY IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION IN KILIMANJARO REGION

Zara Tanzania Adventures has received the KEP 2026 Environmental Award as the Best Company in Environmental Conservation in Kilimanjaro Region, recognizing the company’s continued contribution to environmental protection, responsible tourism and sustainable community action. The recognition is particularly meaningful for a tourism company whose work is closely connected to some of Tanzania’s most important natural attractions, including Mount Kilimanjaro and the country’s protected wildlife areas. This approach has been strongly influenced by the vision of the company’s Founder and Director, Zainab Ansell, widely known as Mama Zara, who has consistently promoted the idea that tourism businesses should help protect the destinations and communities from which they benefit. The KEP 2026 award therefore represents more than recognition for one activity; it reflects a broader environmental journey involving Zara Tanzania Adventures, Zara Tanzania Charity, staff, mountain crews, local communities and conservation partners.

A major part of that journey has developed through Zara Tanzania Charity, which Mama Zara founded in 2009 to extend the positive benefits of tourism to local communities. Environmental conservation is one of the Charity’s core areas of work alongside education, women’s empowerment, community development and support for mountain porters. Through the Charity, environmental action has taken several practical forms, including tree planting, community cleanups, Mount Kilimanjaro cleanup campaigns and coastal conservation activities. Zara Tanzania Charity operates a tree nursery in Pasua and supports the distribution and planting of seedlings in schools and communities, while its wider initiatives report more than 100,000 trees planted over time. The Charity has also involved students and residents in environmental education, helping communities understand the importance of trees in protecting soil, water sources and biodiversity. Tourism should create a positive footprint that continues long after a visitor has returned home.

Protecting Mount Kilimanjaro’s environment is therefore essential both for conservation and for the long-term sustainability of tourism. Zara Tanzania Adventures has supported annual mountain cleanup activities involving guides, porters and conservation partners, with the company’s 2025 cleanup campaign removing more than 600 kilograms of waste from Kilimanjaro. That campaign brought together Zara Tanzania Adventures, Zara Tanzania Charity and the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society (MKPS), with teams working along the Lemosho and Shira routes to collect plastic bottles, food packaging, old trekking equipment, clothing, cans and other waste. Alongside the mountain campaign, Zara has also

supported regular cleanup activities around Moshi, helping to make environmental responsibility visible not only in remote conservation areas but also within the communities where the company operates.

The KEP 2026 recognition came during activities organized in Kilimanjaro on Saturday, 19 September 2026, as part of the region’s World Cleanup Day program. The event carried the theme “Connecting Communities for a Waste-Free World” and brought together environmental organizations, companies, young people, students, community members and government representatives. Cleanup activities were carried out in areas of Moshi Rural District, particularly around Kibosho, with the wider program taking place around Kilimanjaro Plantation Limited and the Gombeni Football Playground area. The occasion was therefore an opportunity not only to receive recognition, but also to demonstrate through practical participation the environmental values for which Zara Tanzania Adventures was being honoured.

Local government leadership was also represented during the event. Kibosho Divisional Officer Juliana Misanga attended on behalf of Moshi District Commissioner Godfrey Mnzava and called on communities to take greater responsibility for environmental protection and the safeguarding of water sources. Kilimanjaro Environmental Preservation Director Nestory Mushi also used the occasion to emphasize environmental education and the importance of involving young people in finding solutions to waste challenges, including recycling and turning discarded materials into useful products. The participation of government, environmental organizations, businesses and community members reflected the wider message of the day: environmental protection cannot depend on one institution alone. It requires cooperation between public authorities, communities, schools, young people, tourism businesses and conservation organizations.

For Zara Tanzania Adventures, receiving the award as the Best Company in Environmental Conservation in Kilimanjaro Region gives formal recognition to work that has been developing over many years. Under Mama Zara’s leadership, the company has increasingly linked tourism with environmental and social responsibility, while Zara Tanzania Charity has provided a platform through which that vision can reach communities directly. Tree planting, mountain cleanups, ocean cleanups, community sanitation activities, porter involvement, environmental education and responsible tourism practices all contribute to the same objective: protecting the natural resources on which communities and Tanzania’s tourism industry depend.

The KEP 2026 Environmental Award is therefore both a celebration and a responsibility. It acknowledges the work already undertaken by Zara Tanzania Adventures, Zara Tanzania Charity, Mama Zara, MKPS, company staff, communities and conservation partners, while also creating an expectation that these efforts will

continue to grow. Environmental conservation is never a finished project. Mount Kilimanjaro will continue to need protection, communities will continue to face waste-management challenges, trees will need to be planted and cared for, and visitors will need to be encouraged to travel responsibly. For Zara Tanzania Adventures, the recognition provides renewed motivation to continue building tourism that protects rather than simply consumes Tanzania’s natural heritage. It also reinforces the principle that has guided many of Mama Zara’s initiatives: when tourism, communities and conservation work together, the benefits can extend far beyond the journey itself and help preserve Tanzania’s extraordinary environment for generations to come.

Green Today, Sustainable Tomorrow.