If you are considering volunteering in Africa, then this is a great programme for you.
Are You Ready For An Exciting Adventure Volunteering in
Africa?
Come and join the HELP volunteers for a two week
spell of volunteering. Africa, Namibia in particular, is where we follow endangered
lions and elephants in our quest to defuse the conflict with local people that these magnificent wild
animals face on a daily basis. This is one of our conservation
projects that is currently at the top of the list.
Working from a wild base camp in a fantastic African setting amongst granite outcrops and mopane bushveldt, we
go out into the even wilder bush that hugs the world famous Etosha National Park and where our embattled wild lions
and elephants are eking out a living under difficult conditions.
Hear the lions roar at dusk whilst we prepare our expedition vehicles for an early morning start to execute
research tasks, teach local farmers about our quest or build kraals and schools to alleviate the conflict situation
existing between the animals and people.
Project units consisting of up to ten volunteers, each with an experienced and well trained field guide and a
dedicated expedition vehicle, go out from base camp to their particular project destination where they establish
themselves for a period as required, in order to fulfil the task they have set out to accomplish.
Most people who consider volunteering in Africa, join the programme for
two weeks at a time but some choose to stay longer, and we have even had those who have never left Namibia and are
still involved!
Who Are We?
HELP has been established by Faan Oosthuizen, in
conjunction with Tammy Hoth of the AFRICAT Foundation’s
AFRICAT North, located on the farm Kaross to the north
of Kamanjab in Namibia.
Faan has been involved with elephant conservation since 1999 and with lion conservation since 2009 with his
expedition company, Kaurimbi Expeditions, which has been doing adventure expeditions all over Southern Africa for
the past 12 years. As a matter of interest, “kaurimbi” is the otji’Herero word that is reserved for the “Lion King”
or, as the Herero people of North-West Namibia would describe it: “the Lion that does not eat rabbit”.
He has grown up in the bush on a farm in central Namibia and has gained a Bachelors of Art degree in Military
science at the South African Military Academy in 1985. A veteran of the protracted war in Angola which ended with
Namibia’s independence in 1990, he is highly skilled in bushcraft and vastly experienced to deal with just about
anything thrown his way, whether it be wildlife, people management or logistics.
Introduction to the Programme
In Namibia all along the Namib Desert periphery from the ephemeral Ugab river in the central west to the
perennial Kunene river in the north, free roaming desert lion and desert elephant populations are under threat by
ever increasing human pressure.
Lion-related conflict on free-hold (commercial) farmland along the southern border of the Etosha National Park
as well as in some communal conservancies to the west, north-west and north of Etosha, is manifold. Communal
farming communities share ‘ideal habitat’ with wildlife and many farmers have either discarded or choose to ignore
traditional livestock protection methods, neither have they adopted modern management skills.
Conflict situations arise when lions kill livestock. The resultant loss of income exacerbates financial
difficulties and increases intolerance of these large predators, with farmers resorting to the use of poison, traps
and shooting.
Despite the importance of predators within ecosystems as well as their economic value for tourism, large numbers of
lions are destroyed annually. According to mortalities recorded along the southern border of the Etosha National
Park, an average of 35 - 50 lions of all age-groups are killed annually (this a conservative estimate as farmers do
not report all predator killings).
In 2007, this number reportedly exceeded 100 lions destroyed over a period of 12 mths.
Considering that the present Namibian lion population is estimated at approximately 600 – 1000, found only in
the west between the Ugab and Kunene Rivers, the Etosha National Park and Bushmanland, Kavango and Caprivi to the
east, we can hardly afford a blasé approach to their plight and strong conservation measures are called for.
In following instinct that steer them on ancient migration routes, elephants on a regular basis break through
the boundary fences of Etosha and venture onto adjacent farmland where they forage, leaving the way clear for lions
to follow.
The elephants that subsequently share a habitat with the lions in the region that is ensconsed between the Uniab-
and Kunene rivers in the Namib Desert, are by their presence involved in the same conflict with humans, albeit on a
different level. The elephants compete with local farmers’ livestock for scarce water resources and regularly cause
damage to water installations where farmers have made an attempt to deny them access.
We have embarked upon an exciting conservation programme with our goal to alleviate the conflict between the
lions and elephants, and the farmers in the area, and our long term aim is the conservation of our lion- and
elephant populations in Namibia.
In order to achieve this we have launched the Human, Elephant and Lion Programme HELP in a selected area between the Uniab and Hoanib rivers to the
west of the Etosha National Park, in conjunction with the Africat Foundation. You will be in close proximity to
these animals when you volunteer in Africa on our
project. The programme involves a three pronged approach which consists of research, education and community
project work. Volunteers from all over sign up for minimum periods of two weeks which they spend in the bush
following lions and elephants, gathering research data, educating local farmers and children on the importance of
conserving our natural heritage and building kraals, renovating schools and repairing infrastructure.
All activities are conducted from our base camp in the bush on the farm Kaross to the north of Kamanjab in
north-western Namibia, which is also where Africat North is situated.
The AFRICAT Foundation is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the conservation and protection of Namibia’s large carnivores. AFRICAT North’s projects are committed to finding solutions to the
ever-present Human- Wildlife Conflict (HWC) on both communal and free-hold farmland and works closely with farmers
as well as the Namibian youth, providing workable options and environmental education, necessary to ensure the
long-term survival of the lion.
Please contact us if you would like to
take part and
volunteer with animals in Africa.
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