Who are the people behind the protection of wild spaces?
Our Wildlife Ranger teams continue on their biodiversity monitoring across 163,000 hectares of protected area in Botswana and 128,000 hectares in Zimbabwe. The Wildlife Rangers work daily to monitor the habitat and biodiversity in the area to understand the ecosystem health, behaviour and changes over time. Building a database of information to inform conservation decisions is paramount. The team are recording and analysing data on species, spatial movements of large herbivores, alien species invasion and other potential threats to the health of the ecosystem. The teams also monitor the boundaries, check for illegal wildlife harvesting and conduct a number of other monitoring activities.
In Botswana a new area of operation was established with the team learning about the ecosystem and establishing patrol routes. Shortly after arriving in the new area the team conducted an elephant carcass aerial survey which lasted 11 days, with an observation effort of 20.5 hours covering an area of 130,000 ha. This survey was conducted in collaboration with Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), Botswana Defence Force and the Botswana Police. The Great Plains team extended the carcass monitoring with an aerial survey to assist the DWNP in monitoring 855km of other areas of the Okavango Delta.
The majority of 2023 had been spent with training and upskilling of our Wildlife Rangers, broadening their skills sets and empowering them with a passion for all living creatures and an appreciation for the ecosystem as a whole functioning unit. The final quarter of the year was all about learning about their areas of operation and assessing where we are as a team, where our gaps still exist and a strategic plan for 2024.
“Our ecosystem is under threat and it needs protection. A healthy ecosystem gives us a healthy life” – Somalia, Great Plains Wildlife Ranger
