The International Crane Foundation (ICF) hired TKWA to assist with the planning and design of a new African crane exhibit. This new outdoor Spirit of Africa exhibit area features larger, more natural enclosures that tell the stories of the four species of cranes native to sub-Saharan Africa and how their survival depends on conservation solutions that protect and restore wetland and grassland ecosystems shared by cranes as well as people. 

The ICF works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland and grassland ecosystems on which they depend. They are committed to providing experience, knowledge, and inspiration to involve people in resolving threats to these ecosystems.

The ICF differs from most nature centers and conservation facilities in that its activities single out a very specific subject – cranes – rather than treating the natural history and general ecology of a region.  The focus on cranes provides ICF an opportunity to address a series of issues not tied to a particular place: endangered species management, wetland ecology, habitat restoration, and the critical need for international cooperation.