Biodiversity conservation through empowering young women, community upliftment and education
Full Solution
Mambas on parade
Transfrontier Africa
The Black Mambas was the brainchild of the Olifants West Reserve and aimed at combating the rhino poaching threat. The aim is to develop a multi-generational model that would empower and uplift communities to develop environmental patriotism within the tribal villages. Olifants West therefore trained a team of young women from the local community and branded this the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit and soon after the Bushbabies Environmental Education program. At the start of the rhino poaching crisis it became evident that militarized anti-poaching techniques were not the solution to ending the poaching crisis and creating allies in the local communities. Through deploying unarmed women as a first line defense in wildlife security, the community has become directly involved in the protecting their natural heritage. The Bushbabies program aims to improve the working conditions of teachers and create stimulating learning environments. It focuses on education, animal welfare, provides meals and deals with environmental issues
Context
Challenges addressed
The Black Mambas have a direct impact through the eradication of bushmeat poaching through the removal of snares and destruction of bush meat kitchens. Rhino poaching has reduced in areas of deployment. Through visual policing and early detection, the area becomes undesirable to enter due to high risk of detection. Due to these interventions Olifants West became an undesirable area to poach. The unit also monitors endangered species and invasive species to provide data for conservation management
Rural communities can become vulnerable to infiltration of syndicates that recruit locals to poach. This leads to an increase of crime and creates a false economy within the community. To make communities resilient to this, education and social and economic upliftment are critical. Through the Black Mamba and Bushbabies project, the community experiences the benefit of protecting wildlife instead of exploiting it and thus protect their natural heritage and create a more stable social and economic environment
Beneficiaries
- Balule Nature Reserve (Greater Kruger)
- 4 local communities bordering the reserve
- Rural women hired from the 4 communities and their families
- Children of the communities through program at the schools and after school programs such as the scouts programs
Location
Balule Nature Reserver Olifants West Gate, R40, Maruleng NU, Limpopo 1382, South Africa
East and South Africa
Process
Summary of the process
Community involvement and wildlife conservation go hand in hand. A strong empathetic community on the border of the protected area creates opportunities for long term protection of flora and fauna within the reserve whilst providing better living circumstances for rural communities. Local people and traditional knowledge should be utilized in nature conservation in order for it to sustain and provide a long term solution.
Building Blocks
Community upliftment
Community upliftment is key to the protection of natural areas. Communities are the custodians of natural heritage. Protected areas must connect with local communities in order for long-term protection of flora and fauna. Through the empowerment of women, education, food security and animal welfare, communities will be uplifted and will see the benefits of working together with the reserve.
Enabling factors
- Job creation within the reserve
- Providing Education at local schools
- Providing food and clean water security
- Raise the status of women to become breadwinners of their families
Lesson learned
It is key to understand the needs of the local communities and potential differences in culture. It is critical that the tribal chief is involved in the whole process. Empowering the tribal chief to work with the community and the reserve will provide a solid basis for the success of the program.
As no female-only ranger units existed yet, it was a challenge to understand the differences in the workforce between men and women. How women are accepted in their community as rangers, the struggles they face and the needs they might have. Adjusting this to create a unit that performs optimally is an ever-growing process.
Wildlife security
Wildlife security entails more than bullets and boots on the ground. The Black Mambas are the first line of defence. They are the eyes and the ears of the reserve and are unarmed. Militarization of wildlife security can create conflict between communities and protected areas. Although armed forces are necessary, it is critical that a bond is formed between the community and the reserve through rangers that are not involved with the militarized side of conservation. The aim is to create a positive platform where the women are seen as role models for their families, children in the community and other community members.
Enabling factors
- Empowerment of rural women through job creation and skill development
- Paramilitary and Anti-Poaching Training
- Training in other subjects such as conservation, community involvement, environmental education
- Creating safe and healthy work environments for female rangers
Lesson learned
Having women in the workforce can create a certain resistance within communities or from managers involved with protected areas as it is not the norm. It will take perseverance to show that female rangers are ideal candidates to protect natural areas as they have a different skillset from men and it is critical that both skills of men and women are utilized. It will take time before views are changed and rural women will be able to become active members in the wildlife security arena
Empowerment of rural women
The upliftment through women is achieved through:
- Financial independence
- Raising self-worth and confidence
- Education and skill development
- Becoming role models within the community as well as internationally.
Enabling factors
- Job creation
- Anti-Poaching Unit designed to accommodate women's needs. (Child care, medical care, women care, pregnancy etc.)
- Skill development (continues training and courses)
- Providing women with a safe work environment where they thrive.
Lesson learned
Lessons learned from the project is how to integrate rural women into the wildlife security arena. Needs are different for men and women and must be taken into account.
Cultural differences might impact the program as in many rural cultures in Africa women are not the breadwinners or are expected to stay at home. Working together with tribal chiefs, families, and women to achieve the goal to empower women is important.
Women are still very under-represented within the wildlife security arena and might not be taken serious as rangers. Removing the stigma on female rangers not being capable to to the work the same as a man is a priority and women should be empowered and given the opportunity to participate in wildlife security and nature conservation.
Education of rural children
Education of rural children is critical to have the next generation be resilient and part of protecting wildlife as their natural heritage.
Children will participate at schools with weekly and ongoing environmental education whilst cooperating other subjects in the program as well such as English, maths, art etc to get the maximum amount of benefit of education. The environmental education classes focusses on basic environmental teachings and nature conservation. Schools are uplifted through redecorating classrooms to make them more comfortable learning environments for both teachers and learners. Learners take trips to the protected area to experience and learn about wildlife first hand.
Outside curriculums are made available for children wishing to continue after the school program. These programs consist of the Scout program and assisting Environmental Monitors to keep the community clean, assist with taking care of pets and work animals and cattle. Not only does this benefit the animals through the care they receive through the program, but also teaches children the importance of taking care of animals, which will translate to the importance of taking care of wildlife.
Enabling factors
- Schools willing to participate in the program
- Environmental Educators from the local community (trained by the program)
- Study curriculum to ensure maximum benefit and results
- Funding for upliftment of classrooms and salaries for Environmental Educators.
Lesson learned
The program has had a great impact on the children with regards to the importance of education and the protection of animals/wildlife and nature. There has been a need to expand the program outside of school hours as many children who graduate from school or are no longer in the Bushbabies class have been keen to continue learning about nature.
Communities where the Black Mambas and Bushbabies program are both present, the positive impact on the community has been the greatest.
Impacts
The Black Mamba Project has had a great impact on the protection of wildlife. In areas of deployment, bush meat poaching has reduced by 89% and rhino poaching incursions by 62%. The women are role models within their communities as well as on an international level. The Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit is the first all-female unit and created a stage to provide opportunities for rural women to become rangers on an international level. During the pandemic the Black Mambas identified 90 families who were hit hard by the pandemic, and through the help of landowners from Olifants West Nature Reserve, monthly food packages are delivered by the Black Mambas and Bushbabies Program to these families. The Bushbabies Education Program has currently extended to 10 local schools and has reached over 2500 children at this stage. A community centre was recently created to host environmental related activities for children and young adults. The community has seen the value of both programs and benefited on a socio-economic level. The reserve has benefited through the protection for flora and fauna provided through the projects and the behavioural changes within the community. Although these projects are considered long term investments, short term impacts have already been clearly visible since the start of the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit in 2013.
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 4 – Quality education
SDG 5 – Gender equality
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
Story
Sergeant Siphiwe teaching the Bushbabies
Transfrontier Africa
Since 2013, the Black Mambas and Bushbabies Education Program have had an impact on the local community. Stories of inspiring individuals have shown the importance to include local rural communities in the conservation of protected areas.
One of those stories is that of ranger Leitah, who during patrol with her team came across a lioness with cubs. As they tried to move away from the lioness, she charged to protect their cubs. The Mambas are unarmed, so will have to rely on their skills to protect themselves from dangerous wildlife. As they made it safely to the trees they managed to call for assistance to be rescued. Leitah recalls she was terrified but then she mentioned later “I am a breadwinner, who else is going to take care of my family and who is going to be the voice for the animals?” The next day she was back on patrol, learning from the experience
Another example of the power of the project came when one of our sergeants passed away. She was a great inspiration within the Black Mambas as well as her community. During her funeral the Black Mambas were put in the front as a sign of respect. The community spoke during the funeral about how important it was for her to be part of the Black Mambas and the passion she had towards protecting wildlife. The community said how inspired they were about her dedication to wildlife conservation and thanked the Black Mamba Unit for the opportunities given to the women
Also the children of the community have raised their voice about the importance of Bushbabies program. The school planned to discontinue the program after the first year as they did not see the importance of it. The children did not accept this and wrote letters the principal telling him how much they loved the program and loved learning about wildlife and nature and that they wanted to keep the program. Proudly, the program is still going at this school 8 years later
The Mamba and Bushbabies program will always try to uplift the community. The community has been impacted by Covid and jobs have been lost. Both programs rely a lot on funders to be able to help, which through covid times have been a struggle. Luckily funding has been made available to hire another 6 women to become rangers and make them breadwinners of their families. With the right funding we will be able to create more jobs to recover from the pandemic and thrive in the future. Funding for both programs is mainly provided through grants and partners/funders
Connect with contributors
Other contributors
Perdita Luebbe
Rettet das Nashorn
Dr Tom Tochterman
Rhino Mercy
Terri Irwin
Wildlife Warriors Australia Zoo
Simon Jones
Helping Rhinos
Robbie Phren
Pondoro Lodge
