MPATAMANGA

Ian Bartlett's Twenty-Year Fight to Protect Mpatamanga Gorge

A powerful true story of conservation, conflict, sacrifice, and one man’s determination to protect a piece of African wilderness.

For over twenty years, Ian Bartlett dedicated himself to the protection of Mpatamanga Wildlife Ranch, a rugged and beautiful stretch of indigenous woodland along the Shire River in Malawi.

This book is not a safari fantasy. It is not a polished conservation story written from an office. It is the real account of one man’s long fight to defend wildlife, trees, land, and wilderness against pressure, destruction, and neglect.

From extreme heat and arid terrain to the constant threat of habitat loss, poaching, charcoal burning, and human encroachment, Mpatamanga tells the story of what it truly takes to protect Africa’s wild places without government backing, NGO funding, or outside support.

Ian Bartlett writes with the same honesty and grit that made Memoirs of a Real Crocodile Hunter such a compelling read — but this time, the focus is conservation, resilience, and the battle to preserve a vanishing landscape.

This is a memoir about commitment.
About sacrifice.
About standing your ground when the wilderness has no voice of its own.

About the Author

Ian Bartlett is also the author of Memoirs of a Real Crocodile Hunter and the founder of Mpatamanga Wildlife Ranch in Malawi. After years involved in problem animal control and conservation, he has spent more than two decades protecting indigenous woodland and wildlife habitat in one of Malawi’s most challenging environments.