Written by Beatrice Tira and Crystal Koetzer
A collection of some of the Selous wildlife
selous impala celebration
world wildlife day 2017
3rd March 2017 - World Wildlife Day
with the youth, in the Selous Game Reserve
Today we would like to invite you to celebrate World Wildlife Day. A very important day to note the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora on the planet and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people.
The youth are the future, and protected areas depend on them appreciating and caring for their wildlife. Communities on the outskirts of parks are usually poor, under-privileged, found in remote areas and deal directly with the impacts from the park. For example, elephants raiding crops, old lions attacking community members, or family members incarcerated or killed for poaching. Creating empathy and respect for wildlife can sometimes be a challenge in these environments but when it comes to the youth, there are many opportunities.
The day turned out a huge success. As anticipated there was excitement everywhere as we picked up the children at Mloka Primary School, a village on the boundary of the park.
It was not long before the guides located a male lion, which had been on the bucket list of many of the children, who had heard so many things about lions but had never seen one before.
We then travelled to the 2000 year old Baobab, where the children enjoyed a bit of a history lesson from Gerard, a guide at Selous Impala Camp. Before the communities were moved out of the park, the people would come and wash near the baobab, to cleanse their spirits. One young student told us that her grandmother still practices this around a baobab outside the park. There happened to also be a striped snake which the children keenly admired.
Once the children were grouped with their guides it was only a matter of time before the questions started rolling. The guides, being some of the best conservation educators who also have children, enjoyed the collaborative learning experience.
We continued our trip, spotting many different animals and birds, and before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We stopped around Lake Manze area, where there are lovely open plains and everybody enjoyed the view while eating some yummy food.
It was great to see that about half of the class were girls, and that the girls were included in the trip.
Mloka Primary School have equal numbers of girl and boy students, and have both Christian and Muslim children all happily learning together.
Some of the children seemed to stand out as budding nature guides. We would say they are perfect candidates for this kind of work. These two young boys keenly contributed throughout the day, even taking notes and teaching us what they had learnt.
The day had come to a close, and all headed home. The children now have a better idea of why the park is important to them and their families, with a more tangible appreciation of the diversity of life found in the Selous Game Reserve.
We would like to thank Kamkumba & Emmanual from Lake Manze for joining, and Lake Manze Camp for donating two Safari vehicles with their expert guides to help on the day. We would also like to thank the Park Management, who provided support in waiving the park fees for the children.
Both Camps hope to make this a more regular initiative.
Till next time,
Crystal & Beatrice,
From Selous Impala Camp
On the 26th of February, Selous Impala Camp, in collaboration with Lake Manze Camp, brought 50 pupils from the local Primary school into Selous Game Reserve for the day to celebrate World Wildlife Day. The United Nations theme for the 2017 World Wildlife Day is to engage and empower the youth, to provide incentives for them to help tackle conservation issues.
