Clive Johnson (39) has set up a work project in Namibia to clear sickle bush encroachment where topsoil erosion caused by overgrazing has led to natural habitats being destroyed.

He said: "We are going to put back what man has taken from nature. The idea is to give Africa back to nature."

Clive first went to Africa in 1991, hitchhiking around Botswana and Zimbabwe and falling in love with the mysterious continent.

Then he trained as a safari guide in South Africa before working with elephants in Namibia and moving to the 55,000-acre Okonjima game reserve two and a half years ago.

Clive said: "When you live out there you can see the damage man has done over the past two centuries.

"This is an opportunity to reverse some of the problems humans have caused."

Okonjima, which means "place of the baboon", houses the AfriCat animal welfare foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to the long-term conservation of the country's large carnivores, in particular cheetahs and leopards, giving previously unreleasable cats a second chance to be free.

Clive and wife Roma's brainchild P.A.W.S – People and Wildlife Solutions – aims to rehabilitate the environment by bringing in ten to 20 eco-tourists at a time for a working holiday, creating jobs from the profits for locals to work alongside them.

He believes it will take around 12 years to clear the sickle bush and see the vast areas of grasslands returned to their natural state.

Clive said: "We are trying to give the bush experience. People are going to come out and live in a mud hut with a thatched roof and no electricity. It will be a fantastic experience."

Contact paws@iway.na or visit the website at www.okonjima.com