​CCB works closely with the two community trusts from our target villages in the Wildlife Management Areas of close to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve western Botswana. These trusts have been tasked with leading their communities in collectively managing and sustainably utilizing their natural and cultural resources to diversify livelihoods and uplift community members out of poverty. This is a daunting task at any level, let alone when armed with minimal experience and exposure. Networking with peers, sharing experiences, learning from past and current endeavours can do a lot to uplift one’s own knowledge base as well as confidence, knowing that they are not alone in the challenges they face. 
 
In July, our Communities for Conservation team took the chairpersons and secretaries from each of the community trusts to meet with community trust representatives from Angola, Namibia and Zambia at a bi-annual event held at the Mayuni Conservancy in Namibia. In the 4-day visit, conservancy/trust representatives and stakeholders reported on major activities, achievements, challenges and solutions faced in the previous six months, including offering brief financial reports. The information exchange proved to be a valuable learning experience for the trust members from Xwiskurusa Natural Resources and Conservation Trust (XNRCT) and Au She Xha Ulu Natural Resources and Conservation Trust (ANRCT). The trust members were very impressed with the professionalism of the other trusts and saw the benefit of having multiple income streams to secure more reliable income for their communities. At present, both XNRCT and ANRCT rely almost entirely on money generated from the sale of hunting quotas in their concessions, but they look forward to the day when they can supplement and hopefully complement this income with non-consumptive opportunities. They left motivated to improve their skills for the betterment of their respective communities and they have made a list of suggested actions to do just this including on how to improve communication within their communities. 
 
The Botswana delegation was extended an invitation to join the transboundary conservancy trust platforms so that they could be included in this exciting network of conservancy trusts, NGOs and government entities. We hope that this network will continue to provide guidance, support and inspiration to the trusts over the coming years, and will surely benefit the growth and development of their communities. 

​An expedition team, organised by the local community trust “Xwiskurusa”, Kalahari Wildlands Trust and CCB, set off on the 12th May to begin our baseline natural and cultural resource review in a section of the Western Kalahari Conservation Corridor. The expedition team’s goal was to catalogue the natural diversity of plants and animals in the most isolated sections of this wildlife corridor and to report back on important natural and cultural landmarks and sites of interest. This vast landscape links the famed Central Kalahari Game Reserve in the center of Botswana with the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the south-west and is home to some of Botswana’s most biodiverse wild areas as well as Botswana’s first people – the Kalahari San Bushmen. 
 
The expedition team consisted of seven community members with nine donkeys, including local trackers and an elder, Mr. Motsamai Pele who has a deep understanding of the land around where they were to explore. The expedition got off to a rocky start, with several of the donkeys going missing the morning they were due to set off, but thankfully after half a day of searching they were found and returned to their starting point near !Xeretebe cattlepost, south-east of East Hanahai. CCB staff provided the survey team with their food supplies and set off to bury a total of 400 litres (105 gallons) of water at strategic points along their route, the same technique as those used for over a century for expeditions across the Kalahari. Thankfully their knowledge of the bush food in the region was also on show, with the team feeding on indigenous plants such as the wild coffee bean (“bohemia”) and the Gemsbok melons to help sustain them in the bush. 
 
The team set off in large anti-clockwise arcs, making several loops around !N/wagoroo and !Kcgai. They reported that surveying was slower and more treacherous than they expected with uneven terrain making it dangerous at times for the trackers and the donkeys. They focused their investigations around several natural waterholes and salt licks in the area and saw a bevy of wildlife tracks including elephant, kudu, warthog, gemsbok, leopard and cheetah. The team summitted a 150-meter (500-foot)-high sand dune which allowed them a beautiful and uninterrupted view of the otherwise flat, expansive Kalahari landscape. They also came upon an isolated historical San camp which was identified by one of the participants who had grown up there. 
 
The trackers noted that there was significant encroachment of livestock into the wildlife areas and that larger wildlife species avoided the areas closer to livestock and people. It is possible that this could be due to a natural avoidance of livestock for reasons relating to disease, but it is more likely that it is a learned avoidance of people brought upon by poaching. During the survey, the team discovered horse tracks and followed them to discover a poachers’ camp that had recently been vacated. Regular surveys that we have planned in this area will help us to continue to monitor poaching in this wildlife corridor and we will provide our findings to local authorities to aid in anti-poaching efforts. 
 
The team were very proud of what they achieved and there was notably high team spirit by the end of the expedition. Their discoveries will help guide developments in cultural and ecotourism in the area and help build sustainable veld-harvesting efforts within the communities. We are greatly appreciative to the expedition team, including Rre Sefhako from Kalahari Wildlands Trust, for navigating the incredibly vast and isolated landscape and avoiding the various dangers (lions, elephants, snakes, aardvark holes etc.) in the name of community based conservation and development! 

​We love it when our work inspires others around us. It is then that we get to experience not only the fruit of our own work, but we get to watch as our impacts grow exponentially through the hearts and minds of others. This is how we felt when the headteachers at Kalkfontein Primary School came to us after being inspired during one of our bush camps. You may remember from our report early in 2020 that, upon their request, we had donated two goats from our demonstration farm, so they could start up their own livestock farm within their school? Our staff have visited the school several times since then and we are happy to report from the latest visit that they are well on their way to building their very own school demonstration. 
 
Livestock is an integral part of Botswana’s culture and economy and yet, with the effects of climate change causing disruptions to the region’s weather patterns, it is becoming increasingly challenging to farm sustainably. Seeing the success and dedication of the Kalkfontein teachers and students to build this demonstration farm, CCB has agreed to partner with them to deliver farming-specific education activities for the school. This will be an amalgamation of the work we have done previously with farmers and school children. Lessons usually reserved for farmers, such as sustainable grazing practices, herd health and effective depredation mitigation to minimize human-wildlife conflict will now be given to the school students on a regular basis in a format suited for primary-aged children. We also hope that their herd will grow to a considerable size, at which point we will be able to provide them with a livestock guarding dog. This will showcase the amazing work that these dogs do at protecting their herds from carnivores, and will further reinforce the life lesson that prevention (in this case, of human-wildlife conflict) is always better than a cure. 
 
After each visit to the school, our staff are so excited about what this new demonstration farm and partnership will bring. Together, we look forward to building students who’s farming knowledge will reverse the trend of habitat degeneration in this beautiful country, in favour of healthy rangelands for its livestock, its wildlife and its people. 

​There has been a bevy of activity recently with our Learn to Play Community Playgroup in Kacgae. In early January, the “mamas” who run the programme travelled to Botswana’s capital city of Gaborone to receive refresher training focused on holistic mindful play. The mamas are due to receive more training soon – a 5-day course in food preparation, so they are equipped with the skills necessary to safely and effectively prepare food for the children at the playgroup each day. This is an exciting development, as it will help provide nutritious food for the kids, which in turn helps their bodies and minds to grow. It will also improve attendance at the playgroup and provides an extra source of income and training for the mamas themselves. 
 
Last month, the children received a donation of knitted ponchos and beanies from the Learn to Play team in Gaborone, which will help keep the children warm during the frigid winter months. They also received a donation of tables and chairs so that they no longer had to sit on the cold concrete floor during their playgroup sessions. Despite being located in the heart of the Kalahari Desert, the temperatures often drop below freezing in the town of Kacgae. The chairs and these winter woolies will help keep their small bodies warm and allow them to come to the playgroup even on those particularly cold and windy days. 
 
After a long and arduous process, we have recently received the compliance certification which licenses our playgroup as an official early-childhood learning facility. This is the first community playgroup under Learn to Play’s nationwide playgroup roll-out that has received such accreditation and we are incredibly proud that the council has honoured us so. All in all, the playgroup continues to be an exciting addition to our activities within the Kacgae community – providing jobs for mothers and learning opportunities for youngsters that they did not have before. We are so thankful to our partners at Learn to Play for working with us to make this playgroup a reality. The smiles on the children’s faces make it all worthwhile. Wouldn’t you agree?