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AVG TEMP: Swati
28°C
LANGUAGE LESSON Shangaan ‘munghana’ means ‘friend’
WHAT’S NEW ON THE GROUND? 1) Vicky, Sean and Thijs join our wildlife guiding team, bringing with them several key strengths and a variety of experiences. 2) While previous photographer Tim has gone back to Ireland, the photography project has been left in the more than capable hands of previous second photographer – Sam Cox. 3) The rains have come and the bush is alive and green!
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53 ID kits have been created or finalised this quarter (180+ for the year) on species including lions, leopards, elephants and rhino. These kits are crucial to our teams - as well as management of the reserves - in the research and preservation of Africa’s iconic animals.
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This year, an area of 18 000m2 has been cleared of encroaching invasive plant species in one of our Big 5 research areas. This monumental effort has been instrumental in restoring the ecological functioning of this reserve and is a massive physical conservation achievement.
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56.5+ hours have been spent on administrative research project work this quarter, bringing our year total to over 330 scheduled hours. This behind the scenes legwork may not be as glamorous as tracking the Big 5 out in the bush, but is an essential part of our project and our impact could not be made without it!
• Continued support, donations and our charity’s fundraising initiatives have brought in several additional camera traps this quarter, allowing us to ‘double up’ at most locations – better enabling us to capture both sides of passing leopards. By capturing both sides of a leopard, we are able to identify them. • Despite the doubling up – leopards (by definition) remain elusive and ‘camera shy’ and only recently have we managed to capture both sides of an individual for our survey. Although it took some time, the result was definitely worth waiting for and we are confident that more will be reported shortly! • Data has been recorded on six different leopards in our survey area this year - FBL1 & her cub, CBL11, CBL12 (FBL1 cubs from last year), MBL5 & the new male MBL6! • All lion data collected over the past two years has been checked, sorted, restructured and handed over to LiMF (Lion Management Forum) – one of our partners who specialize in finding and implementing best management strategies for lions on small reserves. • This quarter we have been blessed with numerous wild dog sightings. Always a highlight for both staff and volunteers, but also important opportunities to create awareness about the plight of Africa’s most endangered carnivore.
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Since the commencement of Farmers of the Future, in June this year, over 200kg of fresh, organic vegetables have been harvested and sold – bringing in much needed (and certainly deserved) income for the unemployed youth involved in the project.
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Farmers of the Future is now on Lilo – an ethical search engine that funds socio-ecological projects via money generated through searches. Over $50 in completely passive income has already been raised thanks to staff and volunteers spreading the word.
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1295 books were read to volunteers by Reading Club students in 2017. While improvements in overall comprehension and achievements of learners substantiate the success of this project - the true impact, in terms of confidence and ability, is almost impossible to measure and may only be felt in years to come.
“My experience volunteering on African Impact's Big 5 Wildlife Conservation Program was the best thing I've ever done. I really had the time of my life and fulfilled my life-long dream of experiencing Africa's wild in person. There were all sorts of magical experiences: encountering a leopardess with her cub for almost half an hour; sleeping in a tent in the bush to the sounds of lions, hyenas and elephants; and coming face to face (from the safety of a vehicle, obviously) with majestic rhinos. ”
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Photography volunteers made valuable contributions to all of our community upliftment projects this quarter and year, not only in terms of physically giving a helping hand but also through the plethora of quality pictures used for fundraising and advertising.
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In addition to their hard work and pictures, photography volunteers also raised a massive R6000 for the Farmers of the Future Project through portrait photos.
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623 of the best photographs taken on location have been added to our online database (www.africanimpactphotography.com) this year, up from 473 last year!
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This year we have seen countless social media posts from previous volunteers, using the images they have taken on project to spread awareness about numerous conservation related issues. This is the ‘impact that keeps on impacting’ and an important aspect of what we try to achieve.
“It was an amazing day kloofing around the Tufa waterfall. We walked along beautiful river banks, jumped into crystal clear water pools.. We ended up jumping twice from the highest cliff, which was 10 meters high!!’ – Julie Fichefet, Big 5 Volunteer & Annelies Eijkelkamp, Photography Volunteer” – Julie Fichefet (Big 5) and Annelies Eijkelkamp (Photography)
With the generous donation of a ping pong table from a photography volunteer, competition is heating up at the lodge with volunteers and staff jockeying for top spot on the ladder. Thus far our Project Manager (Ryan) has managed to hold down the position but every day presents another challenge for the title: King Kong of Dumela Ping Pong!
Team Photo
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