|  | |  | Behind this web site there is a large community of eco-users from all over the world who share in four common things:
a passion for Africa and its preservation, its awesome natural beauty and the diversity of its peoples. the need for a super accurate and reliable GPS navigation system to take you to the many interesting and fascinating destinations in Africa. the need for INFORMATION. To learn new facts about old things. To change the way we interact with environment and INFORMATION needed not to expose oneself, travel companions, assets and environment to unnecessary risks. the need to know where tourist dollars are spend, it *MUST* make a difference at ground zero, to the local peoples and to environment.
Using GPS devices, the Tracks4Africa (T4A) community when touring Africa do meticulous record keeping of their travels. From this huge repository of high quality GPS data we have created a super accurate GPS map called the T4A Map. But the T4A Map is more than that, it is the collective navigational experience of the T4A community over the past 7 years. It shows Africa the way it is and how it is constantly changing. Click here for more informaton about Tracks4Africa’s maps.
Professed by the late Jan Joubert, we believe that conservation of environmental resources depends on access to INFORMATION and for the traveller to be INFORMED. This is the 4th dimension of eco-travel and it is the focus of Tracks4Africa.
We invite everyone with a GPS to join this pan African mapping initiative aimed at creating a popular African GIS culture where everyone can give a contribution towards the re-mapping of Africa; to contribute by email your GPS track logs, waypoints, photos and INFORMATION which will ensure eco-tourism that is safe and environmentally correct.
Please note that this initiative is not aimed at mapping major urban centres (often for cities very good quality data already exists) but rather to focus on rural and remote Africa. Tracks4Africa also serves to impact positively on the small business initiatives (craft markets and community rest camps) of people in rural and remote parts of Africa.
Wouter Brand, 10th May 2007. |
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Tracks4Africa (T4A for short) is a NON-PROFIT organisation run by ‘Environmental users’. What lies at the core of our business? Our core business is MAPPING AFRICA. More specifically, Community Mapping because the only way to map Africa accurately, reliably and environmentally correct is to put the task of land surveying in the hands of experienced and responsible eco-travellers who are in touch with conditions at ground zero. What’s the main focus? Our main focus is the GPS mapping of eco-destinations in rural and remote Africa. Outdoor activities including hiking, mountaineering, mountain biking, river rafting, scuba diving, bird watching, paragliding, quad biking, overland travel and green land travel (eco-trails), have an environmental impact on the diversity of plant and animal life. We strive towards a high level of biodiversity. Eco-mapping requirements are of utmost importance given the increase in human traffic to eco-destinations. Most of these destinations are outside the National Parks, Nature Reserves and Protected Areas, and as such, they don’t enjoy the relative benefits of research, legislation and access control. Moreover, many of these destinations are home to historical, cultural and religious heritage. The responsibility for protection and preservation of our environment rests with ‘Environmental users’. The birth of Tracks4Africa in 1999 was indeed a manifestation of this responsibility. To support our extending family of ‘Environmental Users’, we at Tracks4Africa have come up with… Our mission: To Foster and Contribute an understanding to a “CODE OF CONDUCT” when utilising natural resources for leisure purposes, especially in remote and eco-sensitive areas To establish a complete and accurate spatial record of ALL the eco-destinations in the safe reaches of Africa. To develop a high quality, reliable and continuously updated GPS navigational system for travelling to these eco-destinations. ”Let’s get the wheels back on track” To develop an en-route INFORMATION toolkit which must meet the information needs for solo and first-time travellers to these sensitive eco-destinations in the remotest parts of Africa.
Jan Joubert professed, “INFORMATION” and “to INFORM” as the only mechanism to preserve and to protect environment for the next generation to do the same. Information needed not to expose oneself, travel companions, assets and environment to unnecessary risks. Information needed to make informed decisions on the spot. “To travel as if you know the place” Tracks4Africa is becoming the NAVIGATIONAL STANDARD for GPS assisted travel into remote and eco-sensitive areas in Africa. Our vision: To strive towards VIRTUAL TRAVEL. We can achieve this by combining properly collected high-quality Community data/information with state-of-the-art spatial software and technology. “To make it possible to decide NOT to travel”.
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