Steps for Okapi – Walking the Camino de Santiago for the Okapi Conservation Project

As part of World Okapi Day—or World Okapi month as we like to call it—Okapi Conservation Project is featuring a special fundraising campaign. Our board advisor, Angela Yang, will be walking the final 100 km of the historic Camino de Santiago trail in Spain to raise critical funding for our organization.

From Angela:

“I have walked hundreds of kilometres in my career for field conservation projects through rainforests, across mountains, along rivers, and sometimes on trails that barely existed. Those journeys have taken me to some extraordinary places, but more importantly, they have connected me with people who dedicate their lives to protecting wildlife.

Okapi have been part of my own journey for many years, beginning with my first zookeeping job at the Dallas Zoo and then hitchhiking to what was then Zaire to visit OCP’s headquarters. This year, I’m trading those forest trails for a very different path: walking more than 100 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago to raise funds for the Okapi Conservation Project.

For me, this walk is personal. It brings together a lifetime in conservation, a species that has remained close to my heart, and an opportunity to stand behind the remarkable people working every day to protect okapi and their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

My goal is to raise $8,000—and I hope you’ll help me get there. Every donation, large or small, will go directly to the Okapi Conservation Project and help keep conservation moving forward in one of the most challenging places in the world. And if you can’t donate, sharing this campaign will help us take the message even further.”