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This project is part of a long-term initiative to find solutions to the ever-growing problem of facilitating the peaceful co-habitation between the subsistence farmers, and the desert adapted elephants through: research, education and development. By joining this project and assisting these communities by constructing protective structures around water points, educating community members about elephant behaviour, creating alternative drinking points for the elephants and promoting tourism in the affected areas, your contribution will alleviate the current pressure facing communal farmers. In turn this will help to promote the future of the desert dwelling elephant in harmony with the continuous positive development of the conservancies and their ideals.
Desert elephants often damage unprotected windmills leaving communities without access to water. This angers locals and makes it easy for elephants to be labelled as a problem and then shot. Volunteers solve this problem through a simple solution – a wall is built around the windmill which protects it but still allows the elephants to drink. The patrol week is important as you will GPS herd movements which display which farms are visited and require protection. The research provides invaluable information for the government on Elephant numbers and identifications - all integral to the successful management of the Desert elephants.
This project is part of a long-term initiative to find solutions to the ever-growing problem of facilitating the peaceful co-habitation between the subsistence farmers and the desert adapted elephants through:
- research
- education
- development
The project was launched in December 2001, as a result of the escalation in competition for natural resources between the desert-dwelling elephants and human inhabitants of the northern Erongo and Kunene regions. Through concerted efforts by the ministry of environment and tourism (met), IRDNC, Save the Rhino Trust and other NGO’s over the past 20 years, the population of desert-dwelling elephants in the region has grown from as low as 52 members, to a current population of over 600 elephants.
As a result, elephants have expanded their range to the south and east into territories they have not occupied for many years. Subsistence farmers husbanding mainly cattle, goats and sheep traditionally occupy these areas. This has caused an escalation of the competition for water and grazing and, inevitably, has resulted in conflict between the farmers and the elephants. Depletion of the natural water table with increasing human use, has led to less available surface water for consumption. Therefore, man-made water points located close to the riverbeds have become the target for elephants in their quest for fresh water.
In their search for the source of such points, elephants cause extensive damage to windmills, dams, reservoirs, hand-pumps and wells. As the farmers’ homesteads are normally located close to the water source, secondary damage is also caused and the lives of humans and livestock are threatened. With the escalation of tourism as an increasing potential earner of revenue for these communities, the value of elephants and other wildlife in communal areas has increased dramatically.
The project believes that through assisting these communities by constructing protective structures around water points, educating community members about elephant behaviour, creating alternative drinking points for the elephants and promoting tourism in the affected areas, they could assist in alleviating the current pressure facing communal farmers. In turn, this will help to promote the future of the desert-dwelling elephant, in harmony with the continuous positive development of the conservancies and their ideals.
We are dedicated to responsible tourism, and all of the projects that we support directly benefit the environment, the local community, or both. All projects are carefully chosen to offer our volunteers sustainable and responsible travel, with specific attention being paid to their involvement in the sustainability of all their practices / project goals.
All of our projects and expeditions issue the participants with clear guidelines on responsible tourism and ecotourism, all specific to the particular environment / region. These cover a number of issues, ranging from waste disposal in remote areas, recycling materials and buying from local businesses to not exploiting the area’s wildlife or harming the environment.
The owner of this company did a gap year trip in the early 90s which involved building a bandstand for a small village in Patagonia. While he was there, he realised the project was only helpful in developing the Western traveller as the village didn’t want a bandstand and only argued about who owned it. And so he set up a volunteer organisation which is useful to communities and provides them with resources and help with funding. Today, his projects offer travellers an opportunity to fully integrate into communities and to make a real long-term difference to the local people’s lifestyles.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
