Giovanni Ravazzotti is Non-Executive Chairman of Italtile Ltd and Chairman of Ceramic Industries Ltd, companies he founded in 1969 and 1976 respectively, to pioneer the ceramic tile industry in South Africa.

The Group recently celebrated its 30th anniversary since listing and its 50th year of trading. In its milestone fifth decade the business recorded system-wide turnover of R10 billion; the Group employs over 2 500 people across its operations.

Gianni has established the Italtile and Ceramic Foundation which is a broad-based black empowerment ownership scheme with the objective of conducting public benefit activities in a non-profit manner with an altruistic and philanthropic intent.

His philanthropic and conservation work has supported the Lapalala Wilderness School, the rebuild of the new Lapalala Wilderness School and the Lapalala Wilderness Foundation NPC which is also a Public Benefit Organisation.

Gianni received the Senior Order of Knighthood, Cavaliere, from the Italian Government in 2007 and was knighted by the Italian Government in 2020 with the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro.

His interests include conservation, support for SA Birdlife and the WWF, the Arts and music.

Duncan first came to Lapalala with his family when he was seven years old, and ever since then he has cared deeply about the reserve and all that it means to conservation.

Duncan has an Information Systems Honours degree from the University of Cape Town. He is the co-founder of Hemporium, a company operating in the hemp industry, and sits on the boards of several other companies. He is a trustee of the Mapula Trust as well as of various philanthropic trusts connected with the environment.

Peter Anderson is a wildlife property specialist with over 25 years of experience in creating and enlarging conservation and protected areas throughout southern Africa. These initiatives have included the establishment of sustainable projects around tourism and communities throughout the sub region. Peter has had the privilege of working with leading companies in South Africa and abroad including; Rand Merchant Bank, Wilderness Safaris, Singita, UBMC (initiative of Dutch Philanthropist Paul van Vlissingen and co-founder of African Parks) and Lapalala Wilderness.

Lapalala Wilderness is a sustainable conservation legacy initiative founded by the Parker family in cooperation with the Ravazzotti family.

Peter is co-founder of the Livingstones Group of Companies established in 1986, with his partner and friend David Dunkley, and is currently a director of Livingstones Garden & Home (PTY) Ltd, Livingstones Lifestyle Centre (PTY) Ltd, Livingstones Supply Co (Pty) Ltd, Anderson Wildlife Properties (Pty) Ltd and Lapalala Wilderness (Pty) Ltd. He is a Trustee of the SATIB Conservation Trust, a helicopter pilot and keen wildlife photographer. Peter is based in Cape Town and has offices in Johannesburg.

Mike has been involved at Lapalala for the past 15 years and has a deep interest in game breeding and conservation, including environmental education.

He has an Honours degree in agriculture and is the CEO of Rapula Farming. He serves as a trustee on the board of the Cape Town Environmental Education Trust and is the Chairman of the Quagga Project.

Glenn joined the Lapalala Wilderness Foundation in February 2020. The Foundation is the delegated management authority of the Lapalala Wilderness Nature Reserve responsible for all reserve operations. Glenn’s working life has been spent in both the hospitality and conservation sectors. Prior to joining Lapalala, he spent 17 years with South African National Parks, initially as Managing Executive of Tourism Development and Marketing and finally as Managing Executive of Kruger National Park.

Mashudu holds a National Diploma in Nature Conservation, an Organisational Leadership Certificate, and a Hospitality Management Certificate. He is currently completing his BTech (Hons) Degree in Nature Conservation at Tshwane University of Technology. Currently pursuing master’s in environmental education.

Further to 22 years of experience in Environmental Education and conservation and a particular interest and passion for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and social change processes, his role at Lapalala Wilderness School, ensures not only the smooth operations of its daily management, including staff and the school’s outreach programme, adherence of policies and trade union agreements but also most importantly the maintenance of relationships with donors and all stakeholders worldwide.

Reletile has joined the Lapalala Wilderness team in March 2020 as Assistant Conservation Management. He manages the day to day conservation teams which includes bush clearing and erosion control. He assists with wildlife management and intervention as well as fire management. Through the Tshwane University of Technology, he achieved his Advanced Diploma in Nature Conservation. Reletile completed his practical year with Veterinary Wildlife Services in Kruger National Park.

Wihan started working at Lapalala in 2021 as a Wildlife ACT priority species monitor, temporarily assisting students with tracking and collecting data from lion and cheetah post introduction. In 2023, he permanently joined the Lapalala biodiversity team as the Predator Monitor and Volunteer Coordinator of the Reserve. His main focus is to monitor our cheetah, wild dog and lion populations – species that need active management to ensure a sustainable ecological balance on the Reserve. Wihan has been working in the bush since 2017, and before this he finished his MSc Degree in Environmental Management at the North West University.

Jean Pierre Viljoen (JP) joined Lapalala as the Reserve’s Area Integrity Manager in 2020. Prior to his appointment, JP worked for a security company for four years of which two years were spent as the security operations manager for the Waterberg Safety Initiative. JP’s experience in K9 training and management, anti-poaching as well as his knowledge of the external crime situation in the immediate areas surrounding Lapalala Wilderness made him a highly valuable member of the management team