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12 February 2021

Imvelo Safari Lodges impact on communities and conservation was valued at over USD$700,000 in 2020 alone

By *Hayley Plaskitt, Imvelo Safari Lodges

Complementing a vast network of partners, donors and friends who generously supported us; together, we have been able to have an impact on wildlife protection and community upliftment that can be valued at over $700,000 for 2020 alone. A glimpse at our 2020 community and conservation projects reveals the scale of this impact, especially in terms of food security, conservation, community wellbeing, water security, healthcare and education.

We have also impacted conservation notably through our water for wildlife program with solar hybrid pumps supplying millions of litres of water to wildlife, as well as through our Cobras Community Wildlife Protection Unit. The unit is now made up of 25 men who engage in anti-poaching patrols, human wildlife conflict resolution and conservation education.

Imvelo’s 'Cobras' Community Wildlife Protection Unit has been undergoing intensive training for over a year now, in particular in the establishment of the Imvelo Ngamo Wildlife Sanctuary on community land. Their training activities have for a long time been of great interest not only to the whole community but to our local kids, in particular when herding cattle on the Ngamo plains. The Cobras are locally recruited so of course well known to school age kids and add to that their success on local soccer pitches and our Cobras are already local heroes. Late last year during our Smile Safari roadshow, our Cobras went school to school delivering a conservation message to the children, but most popular of all was the opportunity kids got to actually march and do parade and exercise drills with the Cobras. Then imagine our delight when one day passing near Ngamo School recently, we saw young Earnest Moyo a Grade 7 boy putting the ‘Junior Cobras’ through their paces. Our delight was not just at watching the fun the boys were having playing ‘Cobras’, but more importantly that our concept for an actual Community Wildlife Protection Unit as opposed to just another conventional Anti-Poaching Unit, embedded in our communities really is gaining significant traction, and that in turn has an incredibly positive spin off on Imvelo’s vision to ensure community-based conservation in Hwange’s future. Watch our 'Junior Cobras' in action, making us so proud in this short video! Junior Cobras in action

As we take a moment to reflect on this impact - we want to say a sincere thank you to everyone that contributed, we are extremely grateful for all the support we received - every cent counted and was put to good use. Looking ahead to 2021 now, we have ambitious goals and many people counting on us. To join our mission to bring positive change and help those most in need please do visit - Hwange needs you