The Habitat Nature Parks Foundation’s core premise: What if the most powerful force in conservation isn’t protection…but connection?

The Habitat Nature Parks Foundation focuses on creating empathy and deep emotional connection with nature to inspire lasting environmental action.

OUR MISSION

We reconnect people to nature through immersive storytelling and scientifically-validated technologies, to remind the public of our ever-important role within our natural ecosystems, spark curiosity, and instill empathy.

Habitat XR, a multi award-winning production studio based in Johannesburg, South Africa, formed the Foundation in 2019. After helping supercharge the results of conservation partners around the world through immersive, commissioned work for years, we aim to expand the impact of immersive nature experiences by bringing them to the general public through our non-profit.

The Habitat Nature Parks Foundation is a registered South African NGO, as well as a Public Benefit Organization (PBO).

Find out more at futurezoo.org

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Empowers Africa has partnered with Habitat Nature Parks Foundation in order to provide a cost-effective solution to fundraising in the United States by acting as their fiscal sponsor. Any donations made here will be granted to Habitat Nature Parks Foundation.

Empowers Africa uses Stripe to process credit card donations. Stripe has very stringent security rules which may lead to declined credit card transactions. If you are experiencing trouble processing your donation, kindly contact Nadia Derelieva at (917) 328-1611 or via email: nadia@empowersafrica.org

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OUR PROJECT: THE FUTURE ZOO

The Future Zoo is the Foundation’s inaugural project. It is a groundbreaking type of museum that reimagines connection to nature through immersive storytelling technologies like virtual reality, holograms, augmented reality and projection mapping. The center is currently being developed in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a new, unprecedented experience—one designed for the world we live in today and the planet we want to protect for tomorrow. And it is designed to scale globally.

Instead of live animal enclosures, The Future Zoo features cinematic, multisensory environments that transport visitors into the heart of the wild. Guests will explore authentic habitats, pristine wilderness, and come face-to-face with planetary environmental issues in ways that are deeply moving, educational, and safe for both people and animals.

From the frozen coasts of Antarctica to the dunes of the Saudi desert, each biome will showcase actual conservation stories and scientific insight, helping visitors understand the interconnectedness and challenges of ecosystems across the globe—and the inspiring efforts underway to protect them.

By becoming part of our planet’s story through interactive experiences, people don’t just see what’s at stake—they discover how their everyday actions can help heal and protect it.

OUR VISION

• Maximize impact
  • We are building permanent spaces for permanent access; a perpetual engine for ongoing impact.
• Cruelty-free experiences
  • Instead of bottling wildlife in cities for people, The Future Zoo teleports people’s minds to wild virtual spaces.
• Empathy
  • Captivity, as an instrument of education and empathy, is not very effective. Zoos often lack context and can’t guarantee
    engagement. Narrative, interactive experiences ensure each person engages deeply in each encounter and feels much more
    empathy.
• Variety.
  • Only a Future Zoo, using digital experiences, can change an entire exhibit at the push of a button, encouraging frequent re-visits.
• Scalability.
  • Digital files are easier to re-populate than physical animals. The Future Zoo can replicate fast, far and wide with the right hardware.
• Affordability.
  • Hardware is cheaper to maintain than physical animals.
• Welfare.
  • Future Zoos do not require captive animals, yet can still fund field conservation, genetic preservation and create employment.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

We are currently raising funds for Phase One of The Future Zoo, which includes:

• A 3 year lease of 2700m2 of indoor and outdoor space in a prime location;
• Hiring a foundation head, 5 full-time staff and exhibit security for a period of 3 years;
• Fit-out of the exhibit space including electrical, drywalling and soundproofing;
• Immersive equipment procured and installed;
• Development of 12 new multi-platform immersive experiences;
• Content management software created for all exhibits;
• Rewilding the gardens with a small indigenous forest as a natural canvas for outdoor experiences;
• Marketing and PR costs for launch, including establishment of website for ticket sales;
• Hiring an external measurement & evaluation consultancy to design and validate immediate and sustained attitude and behaviour change;

Your support helps bring this visionary space to life!

By donating today, you’re helping create a place where people of all backgrounds can fall in love with nature, discover the beauty and complexity of wild ecosystems that we are a part of, and feel inspired to protect them.

Donate

Donations can also be made by check or wire transfer:

Checks should be made out to “Empowers Africa” and should be mailed to:

Empowers Africa
2 Beekman Place, Ste. 18B
New York, NY 10022
www.empowersafrica.org
(917) 328-1611

Kindly note in the memo section of the check that funds are for Habitat Nature Parks Foundation. Or email us at info@empower`safrica.org.

For wire transfer details or more information, please email us at info@empowersafrica.org.

Empowers Africa has been approved as a U.S. public charity, contributions to which are tax deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 501(c)(3) [EIN: 32-0403737] of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

Thank you for your support!