Conservation News
4/30/2024
Join the Rhino Recovery Mission Ol Pejeta Conservancy has launched "Rhino Recovery," a crucial campaign to support its efforts to promote and facilitate the first northern white rhino birth since 2000. Najin and Fatu are the last living two female northern white rhinos on Earth. However, recent news ignited a spark of hope: scientists successfully created the world's first rhino embryo, paving the way for a historic comeback. |
Kicheche Camp, within Ol Pejeta Conservancy, offers an exceptional stay in an eco-award-winning small luxurious tented camp nestled in the shadows of Mount Kenya at the foot of an indigenous forest overlooking a waterhole. The camp's green-safari-chic ethos marries beautifully and sensitively with the natural highs of her surroundings in the wilderness zone of Ol Pejeta. This is the perfect base from which to get to know these special rhinos, and many others. |
Mara Predator Conservation Program Governors' Camp Collection recently demonstrated its dedication to lion conservation in the Maasai Mara National Reserve by sponsoring the latest lion collaring initiative organized by the Mara Predator Conservation Program (MPCP). As part of its broader commitment to wildlife preservation, the MPCP focuses on safeguarding vulnerable predator populations, while raising awareness among local communities and stakeholders about the importance of conservation and environmental responsibility. Emphasizing the crucial role of community involvement, the program recognizes that successful conservation efforts depend upon the active engagement of communities in wildlife areas. |
Children in the Wilderness, Rwanda - 55 more goats for Akayange Fifty-five families received a donation of a goat recently, thanks to guests staying at Magashi Camp. This is the third such donation in Wilderness Rwanda's one-goat-per-family project. In an ongoing cycle, the first baby goat born from a donated goat is passed on to another disadvantaged family, and the project keeps supporting itself. Through this system, 190 families have now received donations. The goats are valuable not just for their milk and meat, but also for their manure, used in farming. |
FACET – Celebrating a Lasting Legacy at Delaire Graff Estate, Cape Winelands This year marks 10 years since FACET, a charity to support Africa's children, began working with the Pebbles Project, its partner charity in South Africa. In celebration, Delaire Graff Estate and the Pebbles Project will embark upon 10 initiatives during this anniversary year, one for each year of the partnership, with the aim of transforming the lives of children and young people within the local farming communities in which Pebbles Projects operates. The projects will include job-shadowing programs for interns at Delaire Graff Estate across the restaurants, kitchens, gardens, vineyards, spa and housekeeping; volunteering opportunities for Estate employees to coincide with Mandela Day; Easter egg and book donations; and a collaborative and immersive art project – a nod to Delaire Graff Estate's extensive contemporary art collection. |
Elephant Pepper Camp's Organic Garden and Bee Keeping Many guests arriving at Elephant Pepper Camp in the Mara North Conservancy of Kenya are often unaware of the work happening behind the scenes, to ensure a seamless "farm to fork" dining experience. Under the careful custody of gardener Simon Koech, the property is home to three organic gardens and 23 beehives. Organic produce including a variety of lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, beetroot, aubergine, kale, spinach, edible nasturtium flowers, chilies and lemongrass are all used in the kitchen to create fresh salads, local dishes and Indian specialties. |
The abundance of honey from the beehives (often yielding 20 liters) harvested every six months not only supplies guests with a delicious addition to breakfast but is also creatively incorporated into salad dressings, sauces and vegetable dishes, such as sticky cauliflower. Gardener Simon grew up as a farmer in Kenya and then trained at Tortilis Camp in Amboseli, where he received additional bee-keeping tuition. His passion for growing is infectious and guests are regularly amazed when they tour the gardens to see where many of the ingredients on the menus were cultivated. |
Climate Change Inspires Study in the Makgadikgadi Pans
The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, with consistent movement toward extremes and, as a result, research is required for the sake of species adaptation. One such study is entitled "Impacts of Surface Water on Herbivore Ecology and Socio-Ecological Knock-on Effects."
The project takes place in the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana, home to Jack's Camp, San Camp and Camp Kalahari, where climate change has been making itself apparent through soaring temperatures and decreasing rainfall, resulting in a reduced availability of natural surface water, crucial for sustaining wildlife.
The otherworldy surroundings of the Makgadikgadi – a network of saltpans that once formed a super lake in the midst of the Kalahari Desert - has inspired cinema, literature and art. It is home to the Zu/'hoasi bushmen and women, and hosts a significant portion of Africa's second largest migration, in which a spectacle of 30,000 zebra and wildebeest traverse northern Botswana.
At the height of the dry season the ephemeral Boteti River is flooded, but over recent years, its flow has slowed prompting concerns that it might vanish, as it did prior to 2009. Little is currently known about the impacts of surface water availability, nor the different types of water sources in the area. What is known is that the availability of surface water has both direct and indirect consequences on semi-arid ecosystems, so it is important that research be undertaken to determine its impact in the Makgadikgadi Pans.
The study aims to investigate these impacts and use the data gathered to advise on where best to position artificial waterholes, and how far apart they should be from one another, as well as the timing and volume of outputs, while minimizing any detrimental effects. Beyond this, the results will also help identify and map the network of elephant trails through the area, which will help mitigate human-wildlife conflict and allow the maintenance of landscape connectivity.