USAID funds conservation journalism programme in Botswana

The programme aims to increase coverage of wildlife crime and understanding of conservation in a local context

The elephants, weighing over 25 tonnes in total, will be flown from Kent to Kenya (Getty Images)

By Keletso Thobega for Botswana Guardian

Raising awareness on critical issues related to conservation is one way to educate the public on key environmental issues, and motivate communities to prioritise environmental protection, in order to preserve natural ecosystems, and wildlife, particularly in light of the debilitating impacts of climate change, says Space for Giants’ Media Advisor, Mike Pflanz.

Pflanz told this publication that the first port of action was capacitating media on reportage and that is why Space for Giants had spearheaded the African Conservation Journalism Programme, which is funded by USAID and recently started in Botswana.

The programme brings together select journalists to train them in reporting on issues related to conservation across board, including wildlife crime, climate change, and flora and fauna protection; with the hope of ensuring that the public is kept up to date on issues relating to conservation, which has an underlying impact on the livelihoods of people, and the economy.

It is the first time that the programme is running in Botswana, having been started in Kenya and Uganda over the past few years, and was recently rolled out to Zimbabwe, with plans to expand further into southern Africa.

The first cohort from Botswana recently took part in a rigorous MasterClass in Gaborone and Serowe, where they were workshopped by experienced investigative journalists, and engaged with conservation and wildlife experts, as well as policy makers, community members and traditional leaders on issues of conservation and its impact on the lives of people in Botswana.

The selected journalists for the 2022 programme are: Boniface Keakabetswe, Dave Baitse, Innocent Tshukudu, Keletso Thobega, Solomon Tjinkeya and Thobo Motlhoka.

The African Conservation Journalism Programme is funded by USAID Southern Africa through its VukaNow initiative, and implemented by Space for Giants, an international organisation that raises awareness on wildlife protection.

Pflanz said their main aim is to increase the number of quality stories on, and increase the visibility of, specialised reporting on conservation in Africa. He noted that it is important for Africans to tell African stories, to not only share what is happening on the ground, but to also give a localised perspective on issues to a global audience.

“Local reporters have the advantage that they better understand the reality on the ground, and some of the challenges that affect their people on a day-to-day basis, within their communities.”

Pflanz further noted that mentoring and funding African journalists to produce more stories about conservation and wildlife crime would help audiences to better comprehend the value of their natural resources.

USAID’s VukaNow program is dedicated to reducing wildlife crime in southern Africa. It calculates that wildlife crime is a multi-billion dollar illicit business on the continent and it decimates Africa’s wildlife and biodiversity. It also undermines economic prosperity and sustainable development, as well as impoverishes people of their cultural and natural resource heritage; threatens to erode social cohesion and stability, in addition to threatening regional peace and security.

Pflanz said offering journalists rigorous training in understanding and covering conservation stories would help widen the reach of the reporting both in Africa and beyond, and “amplify African voices in global discussions about conservation.”

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAID’s VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organisation Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Read the original story here