Conservation Aviation

Field history, practical lessons, and the foundation for what comes next

Marcel Romdane’s conservation aviation work began in Kenya, where rising elephant poaching led him to move from wildlife photography into field-based flying.

That effort became Fly4Elephants, a Germany-based initiative founded in 2012 and operated in Kenya, including from the Maasai Mara ecosystem.

The core idea was straightforward: in remote conservation landscapes, a light bush aircraft can provide visible aerial presence, rapid observation, and practical support in ways that are difficult to replicate from the ground alone.

Fly4Elephants proved that such a model could provide real field value. It also exposed the structural weaknesses that make small-aircraft conservation work difficult to sustain over time.

This section brings together the operational history of Fly4Elephants, selected media coverage, and the lessons that emerged from that experience.

Those lessons now form the basis for a more durable next chapter in conservation aviation.