From the Editor
“We’ve had an exceptionally busy start to the year, with a highlight being the arrival of our new Natural Resource Management students! It’s always exciting to know that by the end of the year, we’ll have helped equip conservation professionals from across Africa with the skills they need to tackle the challenging issues we face in this dynamic and ever-changing sector.
During this the first quarter of the year we hosted a number of visitors and donors including a German delegation representing KfW, BMZ and GIZ; African Parks; BIOPAMA (IUCN’s Eastern and southern Africa’s Region Office’s Biodiversity Area Management Programme); Biofund (An environmental fund for the conservation of biodiversity in Mozambique); & Beyond (Media and PR department representatives) and the Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance.
Much media interest in the work, training and applied learning being conducted continues to be generated. Visiting journalists and film crews included Swiss National TV’s Editor in Chief Mitja Rietbrock for Mitenand introduced by Friends of African Wildlife; the Waterbear Network, a UK based subscription on demand video platform introduced by the Tusk Trust, and a group of media hosted by the Comanis Foundation, a Swiss-based nature and wildlife conservation organisation which promotes biodiversity and sustainability of wildlife and parks with a strong emphasis on community engagement. The group included well known independent photojournalist, Jacques Marais; Bertus Louw 50/50 programme producer and presenter and cameraman Igor Potgieter; Tiara Walters representing the Daily Maverick and Lyu Qiang from People’s Daily. Further discussions have also been held with Elisabeth Brentano representing the Matador Network in San Fransico. The short documentary produced focuses on eco-and wildlife-tourism and how this, together with counter poaching units, impacts and helps conservation efforts.”
