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Elephant Awareness Education Project
NOVEMBER 2023 – 1000€ TO SUPPORT 35 KIDS VISITING THE HERD ELEPHANTS AND PARTICIPATING IN THE ELEPHANT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM OFFERED IN A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE BUSHBABIES AND THE HERD TRUST
THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN RAISED THROUGH OUR FUNDRAISING ART COLLABORATION WITH THE SCULPTOR FRANCOIS VANDENBERGHE AND THE BELGIAN CAFMEYER GALLERY
Through our collaboration fundraising program, students from the BushBabies’ program visit the HERD stables and get educated on elephant conservation by the elephant carers. They hear stories and get elephant education from the elephant carers, observe the animals, touch their trunks and participating in a morning feeding session so they have the chance to get a little bit closer to African Elephants which is mostly a once in a lifetime experience although they are living next to these beautiful animals.
Africa’s ecosystems are a cornerstone of our planet’s health. protecting them means protecting our future. Unfortunately, human-wildlife conflicts threathen these ecosystems.
We can only safeguard Africa’s biodiversity by spreading knowledge and raising awareness so people and wildlife can thrive together. Therefore local education is key: by understanding Africa’s ecosystems, we protect its wildlife, its communities and our world.
Empowering communities with education helps reduce human-wildlife conflicts and encourages people to thrive at home.
Through our collaboration fundraising program, students from the BushBabies’ program visit the HERD stables to learn about elephant conservation from the carers. Additionally, they learn about biodiversity from rangers, gaining a new perspective on education and future employment opportunities.
The cost to realise this educational moment with transport included for 18 kids and 4 educators totals 1500€.
At izindlovu Fund we believe that Grassroots Education initiatives are an important factor in preserving our planet’s biodiversity. Grassroots initiatives are bottom-up approaches which are community based and created to address localized problems. Projects backed by local organisations can quickly gain momentum on the local and long term level because they are generally enacted by local actors.
Our team has set up a Grassroots Environmental Education initiative by working together with existing local environmental education programs in order to:
– create a local south-african connection between south african students and the elephant carers so they can learn more about elephant conservation on the field.
– bring together European and African students so they can make a long-term impact change from the bottom-up in their local community.
Both connections involve a collaboration between the local organisations we have contact with on the ground: the HERD Trust, the BushBabies Environmental School Program and The Black Mambas through Transfrontier Africa.
Izindlovu Fund supports local projects in South-Africa who actively work on elephant conservation and protection with whom we have personal contact. Elephant conservation also involves human environment education as we both – human and wildlife – share the same land and nature. Moreover, as more and more wildlife and elephant habitats are used for human development, educating the future generation about environmental conservation will become a challenge.
Education is not only about having a degree, it is also about willing to see the bigger picture, it is about being broad-minded and valuating indigenous and local knowledge. This kind of education starts from bottom-up and is called Grassroots Education.
Connecting the dots in South-Africa
Together with Adine Roode from HERD our Izindlovu team has set up a collaboration between the elephant orphanage HERD and the students from the school program The Bushbabies together with The Black Mambas through Transfrontier Africa.
Through our collaboration fundraising program, students from the BushBabies’ program visit the HERD stables and get educated on elephant conservation by the elephant carers. They hear stories and get elephant education from the elephant carers, observe the animals, touch their trunks and participating in a morning feeding session so they have the chance to get a little bit closer to African Elephants which is mostly a once in a lifetime experience although they are living next to these beautiful animals.
We collect funds to sponsor a child to learn, touch and feel an elephant. Knowing that the communities adjacent to Kruger have never seen wildlife so for most of them to see and learn about elephant conservation is a once in a lifetime experience.
You can already sponsor one child for 28€ on elephant conservation education program. Hereby you cover the travel costs, food and elephant conservation education for the kid to experience. One group with 20 kids and 2 teachers totals 560€.
Our goal is to sponsor 5 groups of 20 kids so 100 kids in total.
The Black Mambas anti-poaching unit are joining this program
The Black Mambas are not only anti-poaching rangers but also mothers and primary caregivers in their communities. Many are the sole breadwinners in families where men are often disengaged from household responsibilities. Becoming a ranger provides these women with a vital source of income amidst high unemployment rates in South Africa, giving them a professional identity and transforming their lives.
Connecting the dots between Europe and South-Africa
We are currently setting up a collaboration between european students and southafrican students to experience how both of them deal with biodiversity changes and wildlife experiences.
The Bush Babies offer an Environmental Education Program to 10 local schools in the communities surrounding Greater Kruger National Park. Children are between the ages of 12- 17 years (Grade 6 – 7) and the program is interlinked into the school curriculum. This program offers in depth introductions into Conservation, ecology, the big five and the importance of rhino’s over the course of the academic year.
The schools are visited on a weekly basis and a different aspect based on the theme of the day is discussed to familiarise the learners with their natural environment and emphasising the importance to conserve the environment for future generations.
With the Tour My World theme, Transfrontier Africa volunteers from around the world are taken to the classroom where they teach the Bush Babies about their home countries including facts such as the climate, animals and special features.
The Protectors Of The Rhino theme entails the visit and teachings from our Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit ladies who teach the learners about poaching and how it affects thm.
Adine Roode has the vision and dedication to keep young minds informed as of the importance of the environment and its existence. Adine has tons of experience in conservation and has already set up HERD’s conservation of elephants program and the LIC or “Lessons in Conservation” program with the Mpisi Primary School.
The HERD’s elephant conservation program aims to provide a sustainable home for African elephants on earth by investing in wilderness, biodiversity and ecosystems. The African continent is under threat of climate change and human overpopulation. Protecting wildlife without protecting nature is not possible.
Moreover in a country where wild habitats are disappearing and fences cut through elephants’ migration pathways, HERD aims to create a sanctuary for the rehabilitation and reintegration of displaced elephants.
The HERD Trust program works around 4 themes:
> community projects
> sustainability
> elephant research
> elephant orphanage
The Black Mambas an all-female anti-poaching unit (APU) dedicated to protecting wildlife in South-Africa.
They have a passion for wildlife conservation and protect rhino, lion, elephant and pangolin from being poached. Their teams work to the concept of the “Broken Window” philosophy, striving to make their area of influence the most undesirable, most difficult and least profitable place to poach any species.
Moreover these women are the voice in the community through their conservation work.
The objectives of the Black Mambas project are not only the protection of rhinos through boots on the ground but also through being a role model in their communities. These 23 young rangers and 7 Environmental Monitors want their communities to understand that the benefits are greater through rhino conservation rather than poaching, addressing the social and moral decay that is a product of the rhino poaching within their communities. They are also mothers and concerned for their children’s sake as the false eceonmy of poaching has brought loose morals and narcotics to their communities.
They also operate in the surrounding areas where HERD and the Jabulani Elephants are located. Early detection and rapid response is very important to prevent poachers of doing harm to elephants and wildlife.
Anti-poaching units are the first line of defence providing boots on the ground and are responsible for the early detection of poaching insurgents through monitoring and surveillance during their daily patrols.
Wildlife rangers are vital to win the war against wildlife crime. in order to deliver sagety for boith wildlife and communities they work under difficult environments and conditions and are required to stay physically and mentally in strong condition.
The Black Mambas work on:
> rhino, lion, elephant and pangolin anti poaching ranger
> community projects such as the Bush Babies
> being a role-model for their communities
> being a mother for their kids
Donate 10€
Because every donation, no matter how big or small, counts. Contact us if you want to receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 25€
With this donation you sponsor 1 child on the elephant conservation education program. Contact us if you want to receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 50€
When donating 50€, you will support 2 children. You will also receive a donation certificate from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 100€
When donating 100€, you are supporting 4 children through our program. You will also receive a donation certificate and a personal thank you letter from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
Donate 250€
When donating 250€, you will support a whole group of 10 children. You will also receive a donation certificate and a personal thank you letter from the HERD Trust in South-Africa.
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