Conservation

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA MONITORING

Monitoring of both wildlife and human activities are a key component for any proactive or adaptive management strategy for the wildlife management areas in Botswana. Information gathered through this monitoring process is digitised, collated, analysed, and presented to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), as well as key stakeholders, for effective management decisions to be made.

CONNECT plans to meet capacity gaps in monitoring specific wildlife areas which are at the interface of human or livestock orientated activities. Previous monitoring of these areas has exposed significant levels of human-wildlife conflict (especially with predators) and rising, potentially unsustainable, human-induced impacts. Many of these areas are highly productive, support abundant wildlife numbers, preserve biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. Maintaining a balance between people’s needs and preservation is an important management priority.

EMERGENCY WILDLIFE RESPONSE

Botswana’s wildlife management areas are home to species that act as indicators of habitat health, including apex predators such as lions and leopards, and key raptors like vultures. These areas are also home some of the planet’s last populations of endangered species like cheetah and wild dog. In some cases, at the interface between humans and wildlife, human-wildlife conflict and human impacts on these key species can have negative effects on the ecosystem. Despite efforts to mitigate this conflict, it can result in injury or death for both humans and wildlife. Therefore, the removal of “problem” wild animals from urban and peri-urban areas is an increasingly necessary activity. CONNECT has a strong and experienced team capable of conducting successful relocations, from snakes and crocodiles to hippos and other megafauna.

As prevention is better than cure, CONNECT partners with other NGOs on mitigating human-wildlife conflicts by working with communities to protect crops and livestock against wildlife damage.

WILDLIFE RESEARCH

CONNECT is committed to assisting or undertaking its own research in association with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) which will contribute to knowledge that informs meaningful management decisions.

Due to our conservation capacity, we are well placed to assist stakeholders in developing or carrying out projects that are in line with contemporary conservation practice and with Botswana conservation management principles and take an active role in the conservation network of Botswana. CONNECT endeavours to avail its personnel to assist the DWNP or other conservation stakeholders with special projects where:

• our staff and experience can help amplify project results through facilitation,
• projects are landscape focused and require participation of multiple stakeholders to achieve success at landscape or national level or
• data required for projects aligns with information already being collected by CONNECT’s ground teams or can be incorporated with minimal effort.