Luca Belpietro

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Biographical Information

"Luca Belpietro was born in Italy, and with his family has been a part of Africa since 1969. With his father, he toured Africa on many sporting safaris. He has divided his youth time between Italy and Kenya. He has a degree in economics and wrote his thesis on Sustainable Development and Environment Conservation: Wildlife as a Natural Resource in Kenya. Following this, he had a successful career as managing director of a financial consulting firm.

"However, he never forgot his dreams of Africa, and stayed involved in wildlife conservation in Kenya. In 1996, Luca Belpietro and his wife, Antonella Bonomi, built an eco-tourism lodge, Campi ya Kanzi, offering a unique wilderness experience to its guests as well as providing shared revenues and employment to the local Maasai. Built in a completely eco-friendly manner, Campi ya Kanzi was selected as a finalist for the 2004 Word Legacy Award (supported by the National Geographic Society and Conservation International); Campi ya Kanzi won the Skal Ecotourism Award in 2005, the Tourism for Tomorrow Award in 2006 (supported by the World Travel Tourism Council and sponsored by various organizations such as British Airways, BBC World and Newsweek), and was awarded the 2006 Eco Warrior Award (supported by Ecotourism Kenya).

"Luca speaks fluent English, Italian and Kiswahili. He is an adamant conservationist and founder and managing director of Luca Safari Ltd.

"[Details of Luca's conservation projects can be found at both www.maasai.com (Campi ya Kanzi's website) and www.maasaifoundation.org (Maasai Foundation of East Africa's website)."

• Trustee, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust