our programs
Communal Herding
At the request of local communities, we help oversee communal herds of cattle—helping protect them from predators and provide regular veterinary care.
Tradition counts
Historically, pastoralist herders maintained healthy ecosystems and protected livestock from predation, but in the last generation the culture has changed with herd-boys attending school and not livestock. As unattended livestock wander the landscape they cause overgrazing, erosion and desertification while predators get an easy meal.
What resulted was more communities losing critical livestock, and then more lions being killed in retribution.
To help solve this conflict, we launched a Communal Herding Program, to resurrect the traditional herder to reverse the landscape impacts of overgrazing, reduce lion conflict and support prosperous communities. Hence, our primary goals in this programme are:
1) healthy cattle
2) restored rangelands
3) protected cattle from predator attack
4) creating a market for sales of local predator-friendly beef.
5) reduced retaliatory killings of lions
This program is supported by generous donors and institutions and, in particular, an overarching funding initiative called “Herding 4 Health”. An initiative jointly managed by the Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International, this programme extends across seven Southern African countries, including Botswana.
Key strategies of the Herding 4 Health model dovetail our early work and include identifying and training specialised herders (Ecorangers) in partnership with communities who then enable the collective management of livestock through planned grazing and mobile, predator-proof “bomas”—livestock enclosures.
With improved herd health management, disease prevention, and record-keeping, farmers are able to participate in and access more lucrative livestock markets as an incentive for good farming practices.
SAFE, PROSPEROUS COMMUNITIES
Cattle are healthier and better protected—supporting a vital way of local life. Fewer than 1% of our herded cattle have been killed by lions with no known retaliatory killing of lions!
Elsewhere, in the neighboring villages Beetsha and Gunotsoga, livestock owners have also shown interest in joining a communal herd. If we can accommodate this demand our target of encapsulating 90% of cattle in our partner communities will be within our reach. Also, by expanding our program, we hope more communities will experience the benefits of our conservation work. Participants will be able to sell their livestock in better condition and for higher prices, hopefully achieving social uplift for these communities.