​We are happy to report that the CCB team has grown considerably this quarter, but we are also sad to report that our Research Coordinator, Michelle Kral, has recently finished up her contract with CCB. Michelle joined our team in July 2019 as the coordinator of our research team and has been conducting her PhD entitled “Landscapes of Coexistence: Cheetah behaviour in a livestock-dominated landscape” through the University of Wageningen while in that role. She is finishing up her coordinating duties to finalise her PhD, including seeing through the publication of several journal articles that showcases the hard work conducted by our Research for Conservation department and include data collected by CCB over the past 20 years. We are incredibly grateful to Michelle for her unending passion for wildlife and her dedication to her role over the past 4 ½ years. Thank you, Michelle, for all your hard work – you will be greatly missed! To accommodate Michelle’s departure, we are pleased to announce that CCB’s own Christopher Mbisana will move into the role of Research Coordinator – the first Motswana to hold the position in CCB’s history – a wonderful achievement! And in an exciting new development, Rethabile Setlalekgomo will move into the brand-new role of Human-Wildlife Coexistence Coordinator. This is a new role we have created that will oversee our various research work to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and spans two of CCB’s departments – the Research department and our Farming for Conservation (FFC) department. With Rethabile’s passion for conflict alleviation and farming, she is the best person for the job and we have no doubt she will be an amazing driver of our work researching new and innovative solutions to human-wildlife conflict. 
 
We are excited about the growth of CCB in the last few years, and as we celebrate our 20th anniversary this year, we are excited to introduce three new interns to the team. 
Tumisang Lobaka joins CCB as a conservation intern in our Communities for Conservation department. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management from the University of Botswana. Prior to joining CCB, Tumisang completed an internship at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Ghanzi, from where he brings in his experience of working with problem animal control, conflict alleviation and community engagement. 
“I have always been keen to be part of CCB because I have passion for wildlife, nature and the promotion of biodiversity,” he said. Tumisang also said he wanted to be part of CCB’s team because our mandate and vision gives him a platform for personal development and growth. 
Tumisang said he is excited to join an organization and a team that is also passionate about conservation, promoting biodiversity and improving livelihoods of local communities. He sees this as an opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally. 
 
CCB also welcomes Tshegofatso Molatlhegi, who joins as a C4C Intern (Development). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Community Development from Bosa Bosele Training College. Prior to joining CCB, Tshegofatso worked as a community facilitator and community development officer. He hails from West Hanahai, one of the rural villages within the key cheetah landscape where we dedicate our work. 
‘My interest to join CCB emanates from the fact that I love wildlife and nature, and most importantly to nurture and develop my career as a professional’, said Tshegofatso. 
‘I love CCB because not only do they focus on cheetah conservation, but they also give local communities, especially women, an opportunity to use their talents as a way of improving their lives,’ he added. Tshegofatso said he is looking forward to being part of CCB for the next 5 years, and part of its development as an organization. 
 
Last but not least, CCB welcomes Ms Koketso Mosimanewamokwena who joins the Research team as an intern. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Range Science from Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Koketso joins CCB after working with fellow Botswana NGO Elephants for Africa. Koketso joined CCB because of her passion for wildlife conservation, and a strong desire to gain hands-on research experience. Koketso also hopes that through her engagement with CCB, she will make a meaningful impact on conservation efforts.
 
‘What excites me about being part of CCB is the opportunity to work alongside dedicated professionals who share my passion for wildlife conservation, to work in a unique and biodiverse environment and also the chance to contribute towards meaningful projects such as mitigating human wildlife conflict. This fills me with enthusiasm and motivation,’ Koketso said. She added that she is looking forward to engage with local communities, and learn about their perspective on conservation challenges and contribute to collaborative solutions, and most definitely gain practical skills that will complement her academic background. 
 
At CCB we are excited about this growth in our team and wish our departing staff, our existing staff and our new interns the best in their conservation journey!

Cheetahs are a wide-ranging species with home ranges as large as 2,000km2 (770 square miles). They are not constricted by international boundaries and roam widely over large landscapes. Preserving the connectivity of cheetah populations is even more critical than other threatened species, with their low genetic diversity making small populations unlikely to be viable for long-term sustainability. Currently there are 33 known populations of cheetahs, separated geographically across the African continent and in Iran. Only two of those populations contain over 1,000 individuals and are considered viable — Botswana is central to the largest of these two populations. Our work to protect the cheetahs of Botswana is particularly useful as a part of a greater team working to preserve the world’s cheetah population and especially with our neighbouring countries who make up the part of the southern African population. 
 
CCB’s co-founder and Executive Director, Rebecca Klein, joined the world’s leaders of cheetah conservation for the inaugural Cheetah Summit, which took place in Addis Ababa between the 28th and 31st of January. Rebecca was one of 130 experts from Africa, the Middle East, India, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States who attended the event, representing more than 80 institutions from communities, government and non-government organisations. The event’s theme “Conservation through collaboration: a call to action” highlighted the great need for conservationists to come together to enact change. The event culminated in the signing of the Addis Ababa Declaration for Global Cheetah Conservation which calls for the urgent need for action to protect cheetahs from extinction. The event, and the Declaration aims to further boost actions to protect the world’s remaining cheetahs before they run out of time. 
 
In the same week, CCB’s Grants and Communication Coordinator, Jane Horgan, visited CCB’s long-time conservation partners and supporters, The Living Desert, in Palm Desert, California. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is not only one of the USA’s finest zoological facilities, but boast an impressive legacy of conservation initiatives, including hosting the International Desert Conservation Summit annually for the past three years. The Living Desert invited CCB to this year’s summit – the first in-person version of the Summit to date — to accept their prestigious Conservation Hero award. Joining desert conservationists from around the globe, the event, held from the 2nd – 4th February, celebrated the innovative approaches to desert conservation which centre around community engagement and involvement from the bottom-up. The event helped link conservationists working in the same challenging landscapes and although the species featured ranged from cheetahs and lions to rhinos, desert tortoises and vaquita, the community-based approaches to tackling the similar conservation issues experienced, allowed considerable knowledge exchange and ideas sharing between the conservationists. We are extremely thankful to The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens and their team for honouring CCB with their Conservation Hero award and we look forward to an exciting partnership with them and the conservationists who attended the summit.

​Over CCB’s long history, we have conducted a range of competitions to engage various stakeholders, from school students, to farmers and the general public. Each competition is carefully crafted to help contribute towards our mandate of protecting cheetahs, including the selection of prizes on offer. For example, in 2018, CCB ran an essay competition asking primary school students to recount what importance wildlife holds in Botswana; the prizes? Kindle ereaders for each of the winning students to encourage their love of reading and writing. Last year we conducted a competition to find the farmers in the Ghanzi District of Botswana who were striving for sustainability and coexistence with wildlife. A variety of prizes were on offer, including gift vouchers for local hardware stores, mechanics and water tank providers so that farmers could kit out their farms with the best equipment they could to further their farming practices. But the six lucky place-getters, a winner and a runner up from each of the three categories (women, youth and integrated farmers) also received a very special prize – an all-expenses paid safari into one of Botswana’s beautiful protected areas! 
 
Why would we go to such great lengths to provide such a lavish prize for the six winners? Botswana is home to some of the world’s most enigmatic wildlife, which is a huge drawcard for international tourists and the basis of Botswana’s tourism industry - the second largest source of GDP in the country (after diamond mining). But for farmers, the benefits that wildlife provides through the tourism industry can seem very far away when they are experiencing first-hand the costs of living with wildlife. Furthermore, farmers rarely see wildlife with their own eyes – often the only signs that cheetahs, lions or elephants have been on their farms is the footprints left in the Kalahari sand or the damage they may leave in their wake. In allowing these farmers to luxuriate in the 5-star safari experience usually only enjoyed by foreign tourists, we hoped to help these farmers appreciate the beauty and majesty of Botswana’s protected wildlife species and to better understand the extent of the burgeoning tourism industry in Botswana. By taking them on safari we hoped to help them fall in love with Botswana’s wildlife again, which hopefully will help build tolerance of any sporadic damage that may be caused on their farms in the future. 
 
Late last year, the integrated farmer category winner James Motshidisi and runner up Jason Kale enjoyed their safari in the Okavango Delta, at the Great Plains Okavango Explorers camp. And in March our last finalists were able to enjoy their safaris. From the women’s category, winner Rachel Mpho Kelefitlhetse and runner up Gakebagane Sefako, enjoyed an amazing safari at one of the Okavango Delta’s most prestigious camps – Wilderness Safaris’ Little Vumbura camp. Youth category winner Olebile Khewa Keitseope and runner up Ezekiel Kawamanuka also enjoyed a stay at the Natural Selections camp Meno a Kwena in March where they enjoyed a safari on the beautiful Boteti River and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in November. 
 
All of the farmers competition winners and runners up enjoyed and expressed their gratitude for their safari trips, many saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them. The highlight for most was enjoying seeing the animals in their natural environment. 
 
The women’s category winner, Rachel Kelefitlhetse, was quick to praise the Wilderness staff, saying that they felt so safe and cared for by the staff at Little Vumbura camp. “The guides were incredible, the accommodation was good, and the food was excellent. Everything about the trip was thrilling and we would love to come back one day for more, to get that feeling one more time.”
 
The youth category winner Olebile Keitseope could not hide her excitement as she said “we had a wonderful experience. The service exceeded our expectations: nice employees, skilled guides, delicious meals, excellent accommodations, and magnificent wildlife!”
 
We are overjoyed to hear that the farmer competition winners and runners up had such a wonderful time on their safaris and are walking away with memories to last a lifetime and a new appreciation for Botswana’s wildlife and environment. These safaris could not have been possible without the generous donations of accommodation from Wilderness, Great Plains and Natural Selections. Thanks must also go to Mack Air who provided discounted flights for us to get the winners to and from the camps. Thanks again to the other businesses that donated prizes for the farmers competition – Haskins, Flotek and Classic Auto. Together we have created a lasting experience for these inspiring farmers. 

​We kickstarted this year with a series of sewing workshops in our partner communities in Ghanzi District — starting in East Hanahai on 30th January, and continuing in the villages of West Hanahai, Kacgae and Bere on the 1st, 3rd and 4th of February respectively. These villages lay within key critical wildlife conservation areas in the western Kalahari. These villages are hot spots for human-wildlife conflict and retaliatory killings of carnivores, land use change to agriculture and poaching threaten the viability of this beautiful, biodiverse landscape. While there are very limited economic activities available for social development, communities are handicapped to deal with these challenges. These communities play critical conservation roles in this important cheetah landscape, so their holistic wellbeing and prosperity, particularly through economic activities linked with wildlife and the environment, has the potential for catalysing sustainable change for these areas. 
 
The communities of East and West Hanahai, Kacgae and Bere highlighted their aim to expand cultural tourism activities within their communities. Craft production, especially of traditional ostrich egg-shell jewellery is a skill held by many of the men and women within these communities, but help was needed to expand this and other craft production knowledge and share it within and across the different communities. By bringing in experts in craft manufacturing and marketing and through the provision of materials and facilitating orders, CCB is working to develop a sustainable and productive craft development initiatives within these communities. 
 
The workshops in January aimed to harness existing sewing skills while also further developing the interest already present among other participants. According to Refilwe Baatweng, Community for Conservation Officer, “the general mood was top tier excitement, and the craft producers were keen to learn.” She further added, “I think the excitement stemmed from them now finally starting to make something, they all learnt how to sew bags and cushion covers – including putting in a zip. They were motivated to start making crafts”. 
 
A total of 12 participants were trained across the four villages during the workshops, which was attended by larger groups of craft makers, and they are well on their ways to being shining examples of how great collaborations can birth remarkable results. We are very optimistic that these kinds of skills will bring income opportunities to the participants, who will also transfer the skills they learnt to others each step of the way. Craft producers now have alternative sources of income and we are working with a range of stakeholders to develop craft shops in these villages to help them sell their goods to a wider market.