To close off 2019 and prepare for the new decade, CCB’s staff went on a retreat before tackling the tasks of the annual planning meeting. On 2nd December, the full staff quotient descended upon Serowe to head to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary for a two-day retreat. Having opted for self-catering, some grocery shopping had to be done before heading to the reserve.
 
After settling in, the first activity was a night drive. The drive got off to a marvelous start with a leopard sighting in the first 15 minutes and within an hour the CCB staff had also seen a clan of spotted hyaenas — two species that are not regularly seen in the reserve. The team also got to see the usual suspects like zebra and rhino. Following the drive, there was a braai hosted by the reserve staff, and some games were played before turning in to sleep. The early birds of the group managed to make it to the morning game drive, which was animated by some bird watching activities.
 
Along with making French fries over a wood fire, some of the challenges the team faced included sharing chores and an impromptu walk to the village of Paje (which took a couple of hours.) While some people got to bask in the sun at the poolside, others were engaged in team meetings in preparation for the annual planning meeting set for Gaborone the following week.
 
Sanitas served as the venue for the annual planning meeting – the purpose of which is to do organization-wide reconsolidation and recalibration in preparation for a new year. Each of the department coordinators gave their progress updates and received feedback from their peers. Along with planning the 2020 calendar of activities, there was a crucial discussion regarding some issues affecting the communities CCB works with. The highlight of the meeting was an award ceremony where the executive management appreciated the efforts of some of the organisation’s staff. Boitumelo Mokgosi received the Director’s Award for exemplary diligence and contribution to the organisation, while Leanne Van der Weyde and Britz Malepe received the Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Employee awards respectively.

​Cheetah Conservation Botswana is among one of the organisations which received United States Ambassador Self-Help Fund Grant in 2019. The grant is issued under the auspices of the US Ambassador to Botswana and is given to organsations which have a proven track record of impactful work, with the intention of bolstering their efforts.
 
The relationship between CCB and the US Embassy in Botswana is one that has been growing since their first successful grant application in 2015. The award ceremony to celebrate this latest grant, hosted by the Embassy in December, was a celebration of the grant recipients as well as an opportunity for local press to learn more about the various US government supported grants available in Botswana. CCB’s executive management members, Rebecca Klein and Douglas Thamage were in attendance, and represented CCB’s gratitude with beaming smiles.
 
Through the grant, CCB will continue to conduct training, as well as support community development activities in sustainable farming, livestock productivity practices, and human-wildlife conflict management. CCB is grateful to all our individual donors and institutions which strengthen our work through financial support. To learn more about how you can donate your time, skills or money to the organisation, visit our “Get Involved” page.

​There are three reasons why this workshop was the most exciting one CCB was involved with in 2019. Firstly, because the topic was social science – something that few conservationists are trained in and yet it makes up most of the work we do. When people follow their passion for wildlife into conservation they usually come off the back of zoology or biology degrees, which makes then experts in wildlife. Ironically, when they then progress into the world of conservation, most threats to wildlife are human-induced, and as such, conservationists usually end up focusing their efforts on people and working with them to promote human-wildlife coexistence and to minimise conflict. But few conservationists know even the basics of anthropology or social science. This obvious knowledge gap was something we were hoping to bridge with this week-long workshop at the start of November.
 
The second most exciting element of this workshop was that it was an amalgamation of professionals from all across Botswana ranging from local NGO staff, academics and government officials. Bringing together key staff that work in human-wildlife conflict for this training means that we can have significant impact in how conservation professionals are carrying out their important work in Botswana, increasing efficiency and improving the help we provide communities that are living with wildlife. 
 
The third reason this workshop was so exciting was the fact that it was hosted by one of the most dynamic leaders in conservation – Dr James Danoff-Burg, Director of Conservation Research at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in the United States. This workshop was only possible thanks to sponsorship from The Living Desert, and the participants were infected with Dr Danoff-Burg’s passion for conservation and inspired with his thorough deep-dive into the world of social science. Each of the 43 attendees will long remember this workshop as they take all the knowledge they gained and apply it to their respective work on the ground in Botswana. 
 
A huge thank you goes out to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens for sponsoring this event and to the Botswana Government’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks for their assistance, including allowing us the use of the Botswana Wildlife Training Institute for the workshop. 

​Deep in the Kalahari are the East and West Hanahai communities. CCB embarked on a expedition to engage with these communities on the 11th and 12th November 2019.  The main objective of the participatory introductory meetings in the villages was to introduce CCB and its various programmes and interventions, and to understand current key challenges and opportunities related to natural and cultural resources from the communities’ perspective. Another driving reason was to assess and consider cultural resource management related interventions, while getting to know the stakeholders and players in the communities and current projects being undertaken in both villages.
 
Various stakeholders from Ghanzi DWNP, DEA, DVS, BTO, and Police joined in and participated at both village meetings. Both communities worked very hard and actively participated in the proceedings by outlining what they believe are their challenges, and what areas of development they wish to see implemented in their villages. Participants also listed practical ideas and priorities relating to the main objectives of the meetings.
 
As we get closer to implementation on several projects in the area, it is important that we gain deeper knowledge of the communities we are working with to establish the right interventions to introduce and nurture; working with various stakeholders for the betterment of the people and wildlife. The meetings were a success and CCB hopes to continue working together to sustainably safeguard our natural assets and enhance people’s well-being.