Female rangers play an important part in the conservation of black rhinos in the Kunene and Erongo regions of Namibia. They are equally willing and able to conduct patrols and are fully supported by the custodian conservancies.

The purpose of this building block is to ensure that the broader communities are involved in the conservation efforts through activities that they are passionate about i.e youth through sports, school children through reading programmes. This helps to improve the connectedness that the local people have with the rhinos and they value the rhino more. 

The IMET evaluation of Mangabe Reserve in 2020 revealed weaknesses in infrastructure, capacity and communication that hamper effectiveness of the Reserve. Sustainability of the Reserve depends entirely on the capacity of the local communities to manage it. This is compounded by poor education levels of the population and difficult access to the villages. Over the past years, we have been bringing technicians from the towns to inform and train community members. It is now time to make this knowledge available locally so that youth who are better educated can access and use them as needed. Our challenge until 2030 is to establish an information center at each of the ten villages within Mangabe Reserve. In 2021, we started the initiative to build three information centers in three villages (Mangabe, Andranomandry, and Avolo) within the Mangabe Reserve. At the center, all community members will be able to obtain information about the Reserve and the existing regulations from one place. They will also be able to learn about improved farming techniques and read documents on financial management, personal development, etc. The center will represent the permanent presence of the Reserve that people will know and respect. As a result, we expect annual forest cover loss to decrease below 250ha from 2022.

An excellent communication plan/network with different stakeholders was initiated across different levels. From the inception of the project, the community and other stakeholders were constantly capacitated on how the project is going. A relay of relevant vulture conservation and policy issues was achieved to the target stakeholders within the communities and KAZA TFCA.

The achieved results relied heavily on the collaboration and cooperation partnerships among various stakeholders, including government agencies, conservation organizations, scientists, and local communities. Collaboration with the Ministries/Government departments was key in sensitizing the communities on issues around human-wildlife conflict and suggested environmentally friendly ways to mitigate the conflict. The scientists were there to collect information related to wildlife poisoning and give feedback to the government ministries. The communities were the key stakeholder since they are the sole custodians of the environment.

Our team has identified the importance of accurate data collection, regular monitoring and oversight of data is done by the science and research adviser and Chief Operations officer to ensure accurate data is uploaded to the database. Population management and scientific decisions concerning the rhino population in the country are guided by the data collected during monitoring conducted by our patrol teams. Data based inputs are used to define the carrying capacity for wild-life based tourism and to plan and manage conservation and development activities.

Before the assessment, stakeholders were planning separately in their individual organizations. The assessment brought together Uganda Wildlife Authority, Centre for Research Uptake in Africa, Local Government of Kanungu, Rubanda and Kisoro and other key conservation organizations such as Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust, International Gorilla Conservation Programme, United Batwa Organisation Development in Uganda, Bwindi Batwa Community Development Association and Uplift the Rural Poor to collectively come up with an integrated action plan and take responsibility for their actions and inactions. This had not taken place in a long period of time. After the integrated action plan, each actor was able to take up their share of actions.

The management of the Kisite Mpunguti MPA is mandated to the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute. It was therefore critical to have buy-in from the managers of these institutions in the implementation of project activities including WIO-COMPAS. This ensured the endorsement of the WIO-COMPAS programme and its subsequent recognition for career development.

For this reason, the two institutions were included in the process from inception to completion. This ensured the MPA staff that this venture would add value, at individual levels, to their careers, and not just to the MPA management. This was crucial, as the WIO-COMPAS assessment preparation process is quite daunting, and a motivating factor is necessary to ensure their participation.

Communities and local stakeholders living adjacent to the protected areas were not aware of the importance of vultures. The capacity building involved raising awareness among communities on the value of vultures, the threats they face and their need for conservation. Repeated face-to-face formal meetings, informal meetings, and engaging the community in each step enabled the achievement of the results.

All employees received theoretical and practical training on sea turtle conservation practices prior to the initiation of foot and drone patrols. Training covered sea turtle biology, patrol protocols and tagging of turtles, followed by practical training on the use of GPS, track identification, turtle tagging, nest relocation and excavation. Continuous practical training was conducted throughout the season during patrols targeted at the employee’s experience. Those in positions such as team leader were also given continuous support and training to improve on their leadership skills.