Making peace over the water points

SENSITIVE and sustainable tourism can solve many conservation problems, says Johannes Haasbroek, founder of Elephant Human Relations Aid (EHRA).

His organisation has started a project to bring in groups of overseas environmental volunteers for four weeks at a time. “It works on the same basis as Earthwatch, but is much more labour intensive,” says Haasbroek.With a group arriving each month from June to October this year, Haasbroek hopes to build at least five new protected water points for communities in the Sorris Sorris conservancy.About six farms in the area were left without water during the past rainy season when elephants moved into the area to find green mopani trees.Desert elephants have been returning to the Ugab River and surrounding areas in the Erongo Region over the past couple of years after an absence of about 50 years.With their numbers on the increase, communal farmers have been the hardest hit as the jumbos effortlessly destroy water points in their quest for fresh water.These water points are the local communities only lifeline to survival in an otherwise desert environment.At the same time the struggling communities have come to realise the value of the elephants in terms of tourism and the income they could generate for them.One solution to promote symbiosis between the communities and elephants is to build protective walls around water points.”If you leave a section of the water trough outside the wall and ensure it is filled with water, elephants can still drink without causing damage.”Haasbroek feels the benefits of tourism will still take a long time to reach communal farmers.”We are trying to solve an immediate problem for them.”The volunteers, who come mostly from England and The Netherlands, spend two weeks building these water points.The last two weeks are spent on patrol to establish the demographic distribution of elephants, their numbers, which groups do what and the routes they follow.They also meet with communal farmers to establish damage caused by the giant animals.According to Haasbroek, all the work is done in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).”We are assisting MET with dung samples for a study on DNA.”The Namibian recently caught up with a group of seven volunteers working on a water point not too far from the Brandberg.For Anita Tauros, one of the 30 community members who depend on the water point, it is a good solution.”We are very happy to see people coming to help us.”On the volunteer side, Dorina Lahey from Holland found it a very rewarding experience.Stephanie Bouhallie from France said she wanted to experience the bush outside a game park.”It is great to know we are here for a purpose.”Alexia McEwen from England found the scenery incredible.”I have not seen anything like this before.It’s brilliant.”The volunteers are mostly students in their gap year between leaving school and going to university.”Many of them do not want to leave,” says Haasbroek.He has two volunteers working for EHRA who have returned and offered their services for a year or more.”The experience has such a positive effect on them, especially working with the local communities.They take something from here, and they start looking at the world differently.””It works on the same basis as Earthwatch, but is much more labour intensive,” says Haasbroek.With a group arriving each month from June to October this year, Haasbroek hopes to build at least five new protected water points for communities in the Sorris Sorris conservancy.About six farms in the area were left without water during the past rainy season when elephants moved into the area to find green mopani trees.Desert elephants have been returning to the Ugab River and surrounding areas in the Erongo Region over the past couple of years after an absence of about 50 years.With their numbers on the increase, communal farmers have been the hardest hit as the jumbos effortlessly destroy water points in their quest for fresh water.These water points are the local communities only lifeline to survival in an otherwise desert environment.At the same time the struggling communities have come to realise the value of the elephants in terms of tourism and the income they could generate for them.One solution to promote symbiosis between the communities and elephants is to build protective walls around water points.”If you leave a section of the water trough outside the wall and ensure it is filled with water, elephants can still drink without causing damage.”Haasbroek feels the benefits of tourism will still take a long time to reach communal farmers.”We are trying to solve an immediate problem for them.”The volunteers, who come mostly from England and The Netherlands, spend two weeks building these water points.The last two weeks are spent on patrol to establish the demographic distribution of elephants, their numbers, which groups do what and the routes they follow.They also meet with communal farmers to establish damage caused by the giant animals.According to Haasbroek, all the work is done in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).”We are assisting MET with dung samples for a study on DNA.”The Namibian recently caught up with a group of seven volunteers working on a water point not too far from the Brandberg.For Anita Tauros, one of the 30 community members who depend on the water point, it is a good solution.”We are very happy to see people coming to help us.”On the volunteer side, Dorina Lahey from Holland found it a very rewarding experience.Stephanie Bouhallie from France said she wanted to experience the bush outside a game park.”It is great to know we are here for a purpose.”Alexia McEwen from England found the scenery incredible.”I have not seen anything like this before.It’s brilliant.”The volunteers are mostly students in their gap year between leaving school and going to university.”Many of them do not want to leave,” says Haasbroek.He has two volunteers working for EHRA who have returned and offered their services for a year or more.”The experience has such a positive effect on them, especially working with the local communities.They take something from here, and they start looking at the world differently.”