Wild Entrust Africa has been working since 2014 in the village of Habu, Botswana, to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and reduce bushmeat hunting in the area, through an integrated community development and conservation program. This TreadRight project involves a partnership between Xigera Safari Lodge, close to the Habu village, and Wild Entrust’s Community Coexistence Program. Photo by Dan Myburg.
Wild Entrust’s Community Coexistence Program involves a range of social enterprise and community development projects, 3 of which will be supported by TreadRight.
Village Greens is a women’s empowerment and community garden project mitigating human-wildlife conflict through planned farming, grazing and livestock herding.
The Village Lights project aims to increase access to electricity to benefit youth education in the Habu community. Few homes in Habu have electricity for light to enable children to read after dark. Solar powered reading lights in the home and relevant reading material will improve learning for the 350+ primary school students in Habu.
Through the Village Youth Conservation project, Wild Entrust facilitates a Coaching Conservation program at the Habu primary school. Coaching Conservation’s unique Learning from Wildlife curricula is entirely delivered through games and activities rather than classroom learning and has proven to be an effective way of exploring critical conservation issues.
In 2021, Coaching Conservation will partner with Xigera to take the Habu village grade 6 class on this excursion as a community outreach program and introduction to Coaching Conservation.
TreadRight’s grant will support Wild Entrust’s Village Greens, Village Lights and Village Youth Conservation projects.
In support of the Village Greens project, the grant will go towards the ongoing maintenance of an existing community farm as well as training. Xigera will further support the farm by providing compost generated by the property. The initiative endeavours to recreate traditional employment for women with the end goal of increased food security.
As part of the Village Lights project, TreadRight funds will support the purchase and distribution of 150 solar powered lights and conservation focused reading material for primary students’ households.
As part of the Village Youth Conservation program, the grant will support the delivery of a one-day Coaching Conservation program in Habu village.
This project supports SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production by implementing an innovative food waste solution that benefits the local communities and contributes to food security. Through its educational opportunities, the project helps the Habu village and its children to learn about sustainable living and critical conservation efforts.
