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IMBEWU
: THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATION IN AFRICA?
Jeremy
recently had the privilege of visiting a very interesting community
environmental project in the Tsitsikamma National Park. IMBEWU, established by
the Wilderness Leadership School and the South African National Parks, is a
project aimed at communicating the need for conservation to the disadvantaged
youth of South Africa. It is an
established truism that, in order for conservation and protection of the African
wilderness to succeed, it has to be made relevant to local people. The word
“Imbewu” in Xhosa means “seed”, and that is precisely what the aim is :
to plant a “seed” of conservation consciousness in local communities.
At the
core of the IMBEWU programme is a group of “wise men”
– community elders,
former black game rangers etc. – who lead groups of
8 children at a time from surrounding rural and urban townships on 4 -day
wilderness courses within National Parks. During the days, children are taught
to identify plant and animal species, and their traditional cultural and
medicinal value are explained. Round the campfire at night, through the time-honoured
art of story-telling, the process is extended : the wise men tell anecdotes and
legends rooted in the surrounding environment. The children sleep in simple
fly-camps : clearings under the trees with a roof tarpaulin strung between them.
The children learn to leave no trace of their stay in the bush behind : all
litter is carried out or burnt etc.
(Group of visitors at the
Tsitsikamma Imbewu site)
A
conscious side-effect of the programme is the reclaiming of respect for the
older generation in South Africa – something that has disappeared under years
of de-tribalisation, urbanisation and youth-led struggle against apartheid.
There
are already 4 IMBEWU camps – in the Kruger, Marakele, Addo and Tsitsikamma
National Parks. A fifth camp is planned for the Hluhluwe-Mfolozi National Park
in KwaZulu Natal. Andrew Muir, Wilderness Leadership School spokesperson and
mastermind of the IMBEWU idea, wishes to make IMBEWU a Pan-African
project, and
talks are already under way to extend the concept to Namibia and Uganda.
We
believe that the IMBEWU project represents a vital step in the conservation
process in Africa. Check
out the Wilderness Leadership School's Projects page on www.wildernessleadership.com,
or the UK-based Imbewu Way pages on www.wilderness-trust.org
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