Footsteps in Africa - Sustainable Tourism
Footsteps in Africa is committed to Sustainable Tourism Practices; including management systems maximising social, economic and cultural benefits to the local communities whilst conserving the environments we operate in.
Our camps and lodges are owner-operated – by people committed to the resources and cultures of Botswana.
Delta Camp - one with nature!
Delta Camp, Oddballs’ Enclave and Oddballs’ are amongst the most environmentally friendly safari camps anywhere, confirmed by the findings of the pilot project for EcoTourism Standards in Botswana.
Oddballs' Enclave
HERE ARE SOME OF THE PROJECTS THE FOOTSTEPS IN AFRICA CAMPS AND LODGES ARE INVOLVED WITH:
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Predator Project at Grasslands Bushman Lodge
Grassland Safari Lodge is situated on the western side of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. On our western, northern and southern sides of our game area we are surrounded by cattle ranches. Predators move from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to these cattle areas on a very regular basis because of easy prey and water. Farmers in Botswana are allowed to shoot predators that hunt their livestock at random.
We therefore have decided to work hand-in-hand with the Department of Wildlife and save these predators. Problem predators are captured and kept in semi-captivity at Grassland Safari Lodge in 11 ha camps and we are working on a solution to save these predators. The animals are shown to guests as an activity at no extra cost.
The purpose of having the predators is thus not only to save them from a certain death but also to educate visitors about their dilemma and what projects such as these can do to improve the gene pool of predators in Botswana and to save the rare species such as cheetah and wild dog from extinction.
The predators are fed on donkey meat which is bought from local people all over Botswana. This has the added advantage of supporting the local communities. Donkeys are hugely over-populated in Botswana and pose a severe threat to road safety.
At the moment Grassland Safaris has lions, wild dogs and leopard.
Our intention is to re-introduce the predators back into the wild and to breed with the wild dogs and cheetah. Especially in the case of wild dogs, which are under constant threat of canine diseases such as distemper from local dogs in the villages, it is extremely important to maintain a healthy population by breeding in semi-captivity in order to re-introduce them to the wild.
Currently the project is not sponsored but in future, contributions to maintain this valuable program will be much appreciated.
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Sankuyo / Santawani Village Trust Partnership
Lodges of Botswana has entered into a joint venture with the Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust to form a new company, Santawani Partnership (Pty) Ltd, to develop and manage a lodge in NG33, the Trust’s photographic tourism concession abutting the southern boundary of the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta.
The area is known to older safari hands as the Santawani area.
This deal represents the first, to our knowledge, real partnership between a community and a private concern.
Lodges of Botswana is not leasing anything from the community, and nor have they acquired any rights from them.
They each hold 50% of the shares in the operating company. Lodges of Botswana, whose involvement brings the tourism experience and expertise, will have management control of the business.
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Fly Camps
Footsteps in Africa remains committed to providing quality accommodation at a very affordable price, whilst providing a quality game experience. To this end we are launching a whole new concept in Fly Camp Safaris and have partnered with leading independent mobile operators in Maun.
It is a core belief of Footsteps in Africa that citizens must greatly benefit from tourism in Africa if conservation is to succeed.
Like so many things in life the best ideas are always borne from a group of friends sitting about and deciding to make a change.
The Fly Camp safaris are presented by Footsteps in Africa, background support is provided by Peter Sandenbergh of Lodges of Botswana - who needs no further introduction.
But the folks doing all the hard work are a group of dedicated Botswana citizens. They all also share some other common traits:
•Passion for Botswana
•Many years of service to leading safari companies in Botswana
•A desire to make a meaningful contribution to the tourism sector in Botswana.
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Water for Life at Meno a Kwena
Meno a Kwena Tented Camp has initiated the Water for Life Trust to coordinate our sustainable tourism developments, community involvement and wildlife conservation projects.
We have identified the need to encourage governments that the necessary path towards wildlife preservation is to recreate ancient migratory routes.
Our projects include bringing maximised benefits and education to the rural communities within these potential wildlife corridors. This awareness and exposure will make it possible for us to get the necessary support from the citizens of Botswana to responsibly advise the government of their acceptance to create a more sustainable wildlife resource.
We are also directly involved in supplying desperately needed water to wildlife in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, thus reducing the steady decline of Southern Africa’s last remaining zebra and wildebeest migration.
We believe it is imperative that the tourism industry takes responsibility for our natural resources through maximised benefits to the people of these developing countries, they are after all, the custodians of its future. This is our wildlife conservation mission.
It is from our own experience of this under-developed region that we have developed a working relationship involving tourism and wildlife that benefits the rural people living in close proximity to the camp. The results have secured a future for deteriorating populations of wild species under pressure from human encroachment and conflict. The spin-off is proving positive for people who had neither the interest nor any consideration for wildlife, until now. They are realising the value of their wildlife resources for the first time in decades now they are being employed, and benefiting from the tourism industry.
It is a fact of life in Botswana that fences constructed during the country's early development years have resulted in the demise of massive ancient migrations. These fences were constructed to benefit the country’s lucrative beef exports to Europe. The Makgadikgadi zebra and wildebeest migration is the last remaining population left in the Kalahari, and so it is crucial we do everything possible to stop the steady decline before it is gone forever. It is these fences that have cut across wildlife paths between preferred grazing and water.
Water for Life Wildlife Conservation Projects
We have been supplying water to the migration since the camp started operating in early 2003. The government has been under-resourced, under-equipped and under-staffed and so it was necessary for us in the tourism sector to get involved and assist the best we can. It is no small task maintaining a supply of 100 000 litres of water to wildlife daily during the dry season.
This unexpected and sudden demand on us was a drain on our resources, considering we were starting out with a new safari camp in a new and unknown region. It soon became clear we could not do it on our own and so offers of help from guests visiting the area were received with great appreciation.
The steady growth of visitor numbers to the Boteti has helped improved conditions for wildlife in the area as we have developed new waterholes, and secured more reliable water supplies, as well as elephant-proofing water pumps to stop elephant vandalism from disrupting water supplies.
It is an ongoing exercise to maintain water supplies to wildlife. We are looking into the future of creating additional water supplies in other locations along the Boteti Riverbed, thus improving grazing conditions along the length of the western Makgadikgadi Pans National Park – the dry season range of Southern Africa’s largest remaining zebra and wildebeest migration. These new locations will provide ideal locations for additional safari tourist camps and lodges that will increase employment opportunities to the rural people of Boteti, and potentially increase the zebra and wildebeest population from its present 20 000, to 100 000 in ten years!
Water for Life - Rural Community Involvement Projects
Most people in Botswana are supported by their subsistence livestock farming and arable agricultural practices. With this in mind, despite the developed world educated guesses, wildlife and the natural environment have other values to that of the educated guessing world.
This is why we educated guessing people in tourism must do more for the uneducated. The simple fact is that a better income from wildlife and safari tourism rather than from livestock is the only way we can secure a future for wildlife. This is why we are doing as much for wildlife as we are for the people that need our assistance too.
It is our aim to increase and maximise wildlife potential for tourism, which will create increased opportunities for employment and other benefits to the rural people of Botswana. We are doing this with responsible training and secure employment. A percentage of our income goes to the local Village Development Committee that discusses with the village what the money should be spent on. We also maximise the use of local traditional skilled craftspeople to build and maintain the camp, and our waterhole projects. We also source building and maintenance materials locally to involve the local communities who are benefiting and being rewarded through wildlife generated tourism.
Education is as important for the youth as employment is for the adults, and so we are nurturing our relationship with the local village schools. We are involving the children in tourism and wildlife for purely educational purposes, and also through their traditional dance group that entertains our guests in camp for financial rewards that go into improving their performances – traditional attire, musical instruments and transport to inter-school competitions.We encourage guests to send us school materials that the government is under-resourced to supply, and we are securing DVD documentaries for the schools to broadcast to their students.
The teachers are also learning about their wildlife resources and an industry alien to their culture, perhaps more than perceived by their pupils.
Water for Life - Volunteer Project
Our volunteer project started with two well-known young royal gap year students who spent part of their time between school and higher education in Botswana. The concept has grown into a viable and very popular scheme that benefits the country and the volunteers in many ways.
The volunteers raise the funding for their projects themselves to cover the costs of accommodating and feeding them while with us in camp. We send the necessary material to assist them in getting sponsorship for up to three months helping us with our wildlife conservation and community involvement projects in Botswana.
The volunteers get involved in every aspect of our safari operations and Water For Life Projects with a view to learning about our world and at the same time doing a lot to improve conditions for wildlife and the development of rural communities in need of employment and upliftment in a fast developing young African country. The environment is almost perfect for this valuable project.
