Angofa Wildlife Tours

- Wildlife tourism to conserve the Transylvanian ecosystem

About

Angofa Wildlife Tours

Angofa Wildlife Tours is a new initiative designed to develop rural wildlife tourism in Transylvania to support long-term biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts alongside local communities. This business was launched through a partnership between Friends of Wallacea, a global tour agency focused on partnering with rural communities to protect wildlife through tourism, and Fundatia ADEPT, a Romanian NGO that promotes traditional Transylvanian agricultural practices that maintain local biodiversity.

The focus of Angofa Wildlife Tours

The focus of Angofa Wildlife Tours is to demonstrate that the presence of wildlife can provide positive financial benefits for the communities that help protect these ecosystems. Both the income and the presence from wildlife tourism can be a strong factor in incentivizing local stakeholders to take an active role in conservation efforts, which will prevent the degradation of the current structures that conserve biodiverse landscapes. In the short term, this income will serve to support local communities who provide guides and produce, and support the Centre’s efforts. In the long term, we aspire to use the economic success of this initiative to nudge political will toward conserving traditional landscapes and livelihoods for the sake of sustainable economic growth, eschewing monoculture and resource extraction in this beautiful region.

About Angofa Nature School

The Centre serves as a point of reference for environmental protection, research, and education in the region.

Education

Our staff spend a significant portion of their time on community outreach, working with community organizations, traditional family farms, schools, and tour operators to teach visitors and locals about local wildlife and how to protect it.

Location

Angofa Wildlife Tours operates out of a restored schoolhouse owned by ADEPT, in the village of Angofa, located fifteen minutes outside of the cultural tourist hub of Sighisoara.

Key Activities

Make your next event unforgettable - and good for nature. Host a gathering at the Angofa Wildlife Centre. We offer a variety of day tours out of this research centre, including nightly bear ‘safaris’, birdwatching, and traditional dinners with lectures about local wildlife conservation.
Aim

Your contribution can help us acheive the following:

Angofa Wildlife Tours aims to provide new tour options that differ from current cultural excursions to both divert income into more rural areas that are critical to conservation and to improve Transylvania’s tourism offering by increasing regional bednights and length of stays. The tours are developed in partnership with Operation Wallacea, a biodiversity monitoring organization with a 10-year track record in Transylvania, ensuring the tours are safe and provide a positive impact on local wildlife. Income from tourism at Angofa enables us to hire local hunters and scientists to track and monitor wildlife, shifting perspectives toward seeing animals as collaborators rather than enemies. This income will also enable ADEPT to continue habitat restoration and conservation, and agricultural development projects across Transylvania.

About

Friends of Wallacea

Friends of Wallacea connects international travelers with communities involved in wildlife conservation, providing unique experiences for tourists and essential income for local businesses. Our tours are 100% locally-owned, generating income, employment, and economic growth opportunities in rural communities worldwide.

Community-run tourism operations are proven to effectively replace extraction-based economic development (mining, logging, agriculture, etc) to incentivize and fund the protection of threatened ecosystems. Friends of Wallacea works with rural and indigenous communities who are actively involved in local conservation efforts to help them reach a global audience of intrepid travelers who care where their tourism dollars land.

Watch our videos

See film clips below about ADEPT activities, nature & school projects and agriculture projects in Târnava Mare.

GET INVOLVED

Our Project Partners

Biodiversity conservation and community development in Transylvania
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