A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER:

“2017 WAS A LANDMARK YEAR FOR CONSERVATION MUSIC. SINCE I BEGAN THIS JOURNEY IN 2015 WITH A GUITAR, A CAMERA, A MIC AND A MOTORBIKE, WE HAVE EXPANDED TO A SMALL BUT GROWING FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, SPREADING KNOWLEDGE AND MOBILIZING MUSIC CREATORS AND LOVERS ALL OVER THE WORLD! IT’S BEEN A GREAT TWO MONTHS BACK HOME, AND I CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK TO THE FIELD FOR WHAT IS SURE TO BE A POWERFUL AND IMPACTFUL YEAR OF STRONG COLLABORATIONS. 2018 IS OUR YEAR TO SHINE, AND IN THIS TIME OF GLOBAL CRISIS IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT WE DO SO. I’LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD. LET’S DO THIS!”

 

ALEX PAULLIN
FOUNDER/CEO
CONSERVATION MUSIC, 501(C)3 NONPROFIT

Kaapstad (Cape Town) to Kilimanjaro

After a couple of months in the United States, the CM Field Crew is heading back to Africa to launch Expedition #K2K, a sea-to-summit caravan from Cape Town’s drying coast to Tanzania’s melting glacier! Conservation Music (CM) will be forming eco-educational music collaborations, while working with and amplifying the existing efforts of local NGOs along the way. Throughout our travels, we will work with incredible local artists, collaborate with many new and existing partners, and document it all in a number of ways so that you can join the 13-month journey!

Alex Paullin, CM’s founder, will be flying down first to lay some groundwork for the mission, and we will be joining him in Cape Town this March. Once the crew is united, we will complete one song and music video in each destination, resulting in a compilation of 12 educational productions, recorded in many different languages. Using the same #CrowdStudio tactics from our travels in 2017, we will also develop a thirteenth song through collaborations with local artists. At the Bushfire Festival last year, we recorded our first #CrowdStudio track, “Heal it Now,” with dozens of artists in twelve different languages, recording over 50 tracks in total, which were then arranged and mixed down into one empowering song. Now, imagine one of these across 8 different countries!

Expedition Itinerary

  1. March 2018 – Cape Town, South Africa
  2. April 2018 – Maseru and Malealea, Lesotho
  3. May 2018 – Malkerns and Ezulwini, Swaziland
  4. June 2018 – Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa
  5. July 2018 – Maun, Botswana
  6. August 2018 – Livingstone, Zambia
  7. September 2018 – Hwange, Zimbabwe
  8. October 2018 – Harare, Zimbabwe
  9. November 2018 – Lusaka, Zambia
  10. December 2019 – Malawi
  11. January 2019 – Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
  12. February 2019 – Zanzibar, Tanzania
  13. March 2019 – Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Want to know more about these countries? Check out CM’s Where We Work!

Learn more about who we will be working with!

Conservation Music (CM) would not be where it is today without the help of our friends. Read more about a few of the many organizations that we will be working with throughout Expedition #K2K.

Greenpop

We are thrilled to have Greenpop as an NGO partner for Cape Town, South Africa! Greenpop is leading the Treevolution across Southern Africa, planting trees, spreading environmental awareness, and hosting eco-festivals and workshops. We are inspired by the work they’ve done and cannot wait to collaborate in Cape Town come this March. For more information on Greenpop, check out https://greenpop.org/. Feel free to log on to: www.conservationmusic.org/k2k to see the full list of artists and NGOs, find more information about the expedition, and discover how to get involved!

Explore4Knowledge

Environmental education is a key component in what we at Conservation Music do. Our friends at Explore4Knowledge do just that by promoting “environmental education through adventure” expeditions across Southern Africa. They have agreed to partner with us in Cape Town, South Africa for March 2018 and we couldn’t more excited. For more information, check out: http://www.explore4knowledge.com/

Conservation Music Lesotho

We’re heading back to the Mountain Kingdom and can’t wait to make Malealea, Lesotho our home again for April 2018. We’ll be partnering with our friends at Conservation Music Lesotho! CM Lesotho is an organization of Basotho musicians, eco-advocates, and private sponsors that decided to make Conservation Music local. We hope that CM Lesotho becomes a model for surrounding countries across Southern Africa.

MTN Bushfire Festival

In May 2018, Conservation Music will be traveling to Swaziland’s biggest music festival of the year, MTN Bushfire Festival. Last year, the Bushfire crew launched the “Green Your Fire” campaign, committing to become a more eco-friendly event by promoting environmental sustainability to festival participants. The Bushfire Festival was the birthplace of our CM #CrowdStudio, resulting in over 50 musicians collaborating to create “CM Studios: Heal it Now – The 2017 Bushfire #CrowdStudio Project” seen here: https://www.facebook.com/conservationmusic/videos/1969370016672596/ For more infomation on MTN Bushfire and the incredible work that they do, click here: https://www.bush-fire.com/

Big Game Parks

Swaziland is home to beautiful wildlife and our friends at Big Game Parks are committed to promoting sustainable eco-tourism and environmental literacy. We will be partnering together in Ezulwini, Swaziland for May 2018. For the past 50 years, “Big Game Parks has remained a pioneer in both conservation and tourism in Swaziland.” For more information, check out: https://biggameparks.org/

Projekt 23

June 2018 will bring Conservation Music to the South African cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg! We will be working with our main NGO, Projekt 23. Projekt 23 aims “to create an awareness of environmental challenges prevalent in local communities and vulnerable natural environments.” Through their Conservation Awareness and Participation approach, they empower local communities to find sustainable solutions addressing environmental challenges. We are grateful for their partnership and can’t wait to see their work in person. For more information, check out: http://www.projekt23.org.za/

African Bush Camps Foundation

The African Bush Camps Foundation empowers rural communities to become economically sustainable and ensure that natural resources are protected and cared for. With a mission like that, it’s no surprise that Conservation Music is partnering with them in Hwange, Zimbabwe for September 2018! For more information, check out: https://www.africanbushcamps.com/

Agents of Change

Conservation Music is heading to Lusaka, Zambia for November 2018 to partner with Agents of Change Foundation Zambia. They use story tellings and the power of radio to spread HIV/AIDS awareness, environmental sustainability, and inform youth about human rights across Lusaka.

To fulfill our mission, we will need your help! Here’s how you can contribute:

Artist Partners — Join the movement!

We exist to amplify our fellow artists’ voices towards a better world to live in. If you’re based along our route and you would like to get involved, please get in touch!

NGO Partners — Join the movement!

Are you an environmental or musical nonprofit based along our route? We want to tell your story and reinforce your impact! Please get in touch!

Production Partners — Join the movement!

Are you based along our route and experienced in audio/video/photo production? If you want to lend your skills to our movement, let’s find a way to work together!

Lodging Partners — Join the movement!

Are you able to sponsor us lodging at any points along our route? We will happily share our experience at your establishment(s) with our growing global following!

Food Partners — Join the movement!

Are you a grocery, restaurant, or catering company with locations along our route? We cannot do any of this without food! If you’d like to join our movement we will gladly spread the good word.

Transport Partners — Join the movement!

Can you provide us with vehicles, fuel, maintenance, parts, or repairs along our route? Please get in touch about a partnership or sponsorship!

Media Partners — Join the movement!

Are you a producer, writer, editor, DJ, social media specialist, or another person at a media outlet anywhere in the world?

We’ve already been featured online, on the air, and in print around the globe. Be it individual interviews or missives from the field, please get in touch if you take interest in our story!

Financial Partners — Join the movement!

Are you a philanthropist, large NGO, corporate representative, famous musician, or otherwise in a position to donate?

We’re raising money to cover expedition expenses, incentives for artists and local collaborators, carbon neutral sequestration, and other costs required to continue our work.

We are excited for CM’s growth alongside our partners throughout this next year, and we are honored to bring you along on our journey. Stay tuned and be sure to connect with us on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube for even more updates and stories!

This post was written by the Conservation Music Crew for Conservation Music.

About Conservation Music

Our Musical Nonprofit For Conservation

of Conservation Music

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info@conservationmusic.org

Conservation Music is on a mission to produce and promote musical media that educates listeners and viewers in conservation and sustainability, with an emphasis on rural developing communities, and to serve as a platform for similar efforts. Currently, the organization primarily collaborates with musicians throughout Southern Africa, catalyzing songs in local genres and local languages regarding local conservation issues in countries like Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, and more.

About the Editor

Alex Paullin

of Conservation Music

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info@conservationmusic.org

After years of soul-searching and months in the African wilderness with the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, musician and geographer Alex Paullin combined his foremost passions and founded Conservation Music, a non-profit aiming to foster a global culture of sustainability using music as the messenger. Throughout his life he aims to expand the Conservation Music movement globally, in hopes that his lifetime will see and hear songs of conservation being sung throughout the world.