From Africa to the World: Walking Thousands of Miles to Save Giants

Every Step Counts. Every Mile Matters. Every Elephant Deserves Tomorrow.

At 50 years old, Kenyan elephant conservationist Jim Justus Nyamu, OGW, popularly known as 'The Elephant Man', is undertaking an extraordinary journey across the United States, walking from Oakland, California, to New York to raise awareness and support for elephant conservation.

Jim's message is simple but powerful:

Africa's remaining elephants need our help.

Jim is the founder and Executive Director of the Elephant Neighbors Center (ENC), a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting African elephants and securing landscapes outside protected areas through conservation initiatives and multi-stakeholder partnerships. To advance this mission, the ENC established the conservation brand Ivory Belongs to Elephants™, with long-distance advocacy walks at its heart. These walks are designed to raise awareness locally, nationally, and internationally about the plight of African elephants and the communities that coexist with them.

A renowned conservationist, Jim has worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service and the African Conservation Centre, contributing to conservation efforts across numerous elephant range states. His dedication and impact have been recognised through several honours, including the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya.

To date, Jim has walked more than 39,456 kilometres (24,500 miles) across 11 African countries, as well as completing awareness walks from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. in 2013 and in the United Kingdom in 2017.

Jim's work has increasingly gained international recognition. In December 2025, he was invited to speak at the 21st International Elephant Conservation & Research Symposium at the Fort Worth Zoo, Texas, where leading scientists, conservationists, researchers, and wildlife professionals gathered to discuss the future of elephant conservation. His participation demonstrated the growing influence of community-led conservation and public awareness campaigns in protecting Africa's elephants.

Now, Jim is taking his message even further.

Over 150 days, Jim and his team are walking around 20 miles every day from California to New York, engaging with communities, conservation groups, Rotary clubs, policymakers, educators, and supporters along the way. Their journey serves as a physical reminder of the immense distances elephants travel and the growing challenges they face as habitats shrink and become increasingly fragmented, and calls on Rotary leaders across the United States, the American government, conservation organisations, communities, and people everywhere to strengthen the last mile of elephant conservation and help protect the remaining elephants in Africa.

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Why These Walks Matter

The rationale behind the walks remains as important today as it was when the campaign began in 2013:

• Strengthening elephant conservation initiatives through collaboration with wildlife agencies, local organisations, and communities.

• Raising awareness about the plight of elephants and other wildlife.

• Promoting practical solutions to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

• Highlighting the social, economic, and environmental value of wildlife to local communities.

• Protecting connected ecosystems that support biodiversity and cross-border conservation.

• Inspiring action at local, national, and international levels.

African elephants continue to face serious threats from habitat loss, climate change, human-wildlife conflict, poaching, and poisoning.

Although conservation efforts have achieved successes in some regions, only around 415,000 elephants remain in Africa today. Every elephant lost reduces the resilience of ecosystems that millions of people and countless species depend upon.

The future of elephants depends not only on protecting wildlife, but also on supporting the communities that share their landscapes.

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How Your Donation Helps

The Elephant Neighbors Center is funded entirely through donations.

Your support helps provide:

• Safe accommodation during the walk

• Meals, water, and essential daily supplies

• Fuel, maintenance, and operational support for the support vehicle

• Communications and safety equipment

• Educational outreach and awareness activities

• Community engagement programmes

• Continued advocacy for elephants and their habitats

Every contribution, no matter how small, helps keep Jim and the team walking and spreads the message that Ivory Belongs to Elephants.

If you are unable to donate, you can still make a significant difference by sharing this fundraiser and following Jim's journey on social media.

Follow Jim:

• Instagram: JimJustus

• X: @NyamuJim

• LinkedIn: Jim Justus Nyamu

• Facebook: Jim Justus Nyamu

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The Impact of Your Support

Since Jim and the team began walking for elephants in 2013, attitudes towards conservation have changed significantly. Wildlife organisations have formed stronger partnerships, communities have become more involved in conservation efforts, and important conversations about human-wildlife coexistence have influenced conservation policies and practices.

These achievements have only been possible because of supporters like you.

Every donation helps amplify the message, engage new audiences, and build a future where elephants and communities can thrive together.

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My Personal Story

I met Jim in December 2017 during the Great London to Bristol Ivory Belongs to Elephants Walk.

Despite terrible winter weather, we managed to walk a few miles together before darkness fell. It was one of the worst weather days of that winter. It took my family and I twice as long as it should have done to drive the 140 miles from Manchester to Stroud, where we were meeting Jim and his team, but they were also delayed. Some members of the team had never even experienced snow before.

Despite the challenges, we spent time walking together and talking about elephants, conservation, and the future.

I can honestly say that meeting Jim was one of the best moments of my life. He is one of the most humble, genuine, and determined people I have ever met, with an unwavering commitment to ensuring the long-term survival of elephants in the wild.

Along with the Sheldrick family and Lek Chailert, he remains one of the very few people I truly admire.

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Join Us

Please donate whatever you can and share this campaign widely with your family, friends, colleagues, and on social media networks.

Your generosity powers every step Jim takes and every life-changing conversation he has along the way.

Support the walk. Support the mission. Support the elephants.

Ivory Belongs to Elephants™

Together, we can help Jim and his team complete this historic journey and amplify the call to protect Africa's elephants for generations to come.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your support.

Susan.

Please be aware that donations are made in GBP, so if your bank account is held in a different currency, you may wish to check the current exchange rate before donating.