The Sustainable Safari With Natural Selection

THE SUSTAINABLE SAFARI

WITH NATURAL SELECTION

Large Mammal Migration Project and the Botswana Community Conservation Initiative aimed at facilitating movement of wildlife while reducing conflict with local communities and enabling a diversified, wildlife friendly local economy.

Uplifting and uniting the Local Communities with the Environment and through Wildlife Conservation

Dr. Jennifer Lalley, Director and Co-Founder of Natural Selection is an experienced conservation scientist who is skilled in sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and environmental awareness. Natural

Selection, founded in 2015, was initially started as a conservation driven tourism company with intentions to raise funds for conservation and rural local communities who live in wildlife conservation areas.

They then looked into different models of how to operate the company and choose the commercial model route for long term sustainability, focusing on eco-tourism to raise funds for the local community and conservation.

With conservation at the heart of what drives Natural Selection as a business, they developed a model whereby they donate 1.5% of their revenue to their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

That 1.5% in revenue contributions is still effective even during the Covid19 pandemic where most companies in the industry continue to face significant financial constraints.

Natural Selection runs different programs in both Botswana and Namibia with their purpose being ‘to be a force in the protection of natural habitats and to provide characterful experiences that rekindle a deep love and care for Africa’s wild places.’ They look into developing long term portfolio projects that can benefit different stakeholders (the community, environment and the wildlife) in hopes of creating a

‘win-win’ situation for all.

Natural Selection intends to keep their guests abreast of Africa’s triumphs, losses and continued challenges with the hope that they will inspire other wildlife-lovers to make a change and a difference for sustainable development. They have partnered with various stakeholders and the local community, government, conserva-

Elephant Express buses safely transporting school children via an elephant corridor along the Okavango Delta panhandle

tion organizations and other tourism organizations, all of whom share the same sentiments, as a commitment to protecting Africa’s wild places. Some of their conservation and sustainable development initiatives and partnerships include the Botswana Community Conservation initiative, Etosha Rhino Heights Protection, Mereomaoto Village Outreach at Meno a Kwena, Desert Dwelling Giraffe Conservation, Khwai Village Outreach, Khwai Village Sustainable Grass Harvesting, The Desert Lion Early Warning Conflict Mitigation System, The Khomas Environmental Education Program, Mmogo Coexistence Programme and many more.

“At Natural Selection, we aspire to minimize our footprint on the environment and to support local environmentally friendly enterprises, to blend into the environment by working with the environment and habitats we find there, to carefully manage and minimize waste, and that’s why we take the initiative to build our camps using local materials, recycled materials and renewable energy to create long term benefits for sustainability,” says Dr. Jennifer. Making a difference with the advent of COVID-19 Natural Selection still strives to make a difference even with the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presents, especially for the tourism industry in which we operate in. The COVID-19 Village program was implemented to assist the vulnerable communities in remote areas of Africa who depend on tourism. This initiative transports food parcels to remote villages in Botswana and Namibia to improve nourishment of communities in the face of this unprecedented pandemic.

Areas such as Gweta used to receive food security parcels, but following heavy rains, agricultural production has boomed in the area and Natural Selection is looking into creating a community liaison where local small scale agriculture feeds into the larger market including tour-

ism, creating economic diversity for the local community.

North-west Namibia is also a beneficiary of the COVID-19 Village program where food security measures were implemented following severe draught in the area, which lead to loss of vegetation, livestock and loss of income for the community members. Additionally, the Feed-a-Child Program continues regardless of school closings and Natural Selection’s Elephant Express buses will be on the road in the northern Okavango Delta, assisting people with access to clinics via dangerous elephant corridors and with school transport as and when schools reopen.

The Elephant Express buses are a result of the partnership Natural Selection has with Eco-Exist, a company which deals with human-wildlife conflicts, especially as it relates to elephants in the area. They donated 2 buses which carry school children and other local members in high risk areas where elephants are highly populated. Natural Selection also reaches out for public contributions to bolster resources via the Natural Selection Foundation and helps support the thousands of rural livelihoods that have been affected by the temporary closure of tourism camps during the Covid19 pandemic.

“Although our mission is to make a difference in wildlife conservation and in the lives of people living sustainably alongside wildlife areas and wildlife conservation, our future plans also involve helping the local community in uplifting and diversifying their livelihoods for economic sustainability,” cites Dr. Jennifer.

Environmental education program in Moreomaoto Village.