Conservation - SOUTHERN AFRICA Project Information for Conservation Programme

Our Conservation Project in Southern Africa

Our project base Legodimo a reserve situated on the Botswana side of the Limpopo river border with South Africa. The name Legodimo translates in Tswana to “paradise” or “where god is” and this seems to be an accurate description of the reserve and all its inhabitants. Our Key focus is to restore and conserve the 15,000 hectare reserve using three core principles; prevention, maintenance and development.

The role of the Volunteer

During the period of their stay, volunteers may have the opportunity to get involved in a variety of conservation activities. Below is a list of the activities that you could be involved in during a typical month:

• The clearing of roads; this enables us to travel around the reserve and see any on-coming wildlife without causing any destruction,
• Removing fencing; there is lots of old fencing around the reserve which have been dropped but not removed, this can cause injury to any animal that comes across it. Any standing fencing helps to pen in elephants and other large grazers, increasing the amount of pressure put on that section of land, and beginning the process of land degradation.
• GPS mapping; by mapping the reserve it makes research into the whereabouts of different species more exact, while also helping navigation around what can be confusing roads.
• Collecting data on Elephant breeding herds; Botswana is overpopulated with Elephants, as a result of which, the BWT (Botswana Wildlife Trust) need to reduce numbers. Accurate data is required in order to prevent the over culling of elephants; by collecting and providing detailed information on how many Elephants we have in the area, we can easily contribute to this.
• Tree wrapping; this is done in order to protect endangered plant species against the Elephants, by wrapping the tree with wire mesh it prevents the elephants from removing the bark.
• Building watering holes and viewing hides as well as maintaining existing infrastructure.
• Planting trees and removing Alien plant species.
• Controlling erosion (building Gabions)

Social Activities

Being so isolated most social/weekend activities take part on the reserve, these may include Night Game drives, film nights and craft making, and of course there is the odd Birthday to celebrate. Volunteers also have the occasional opportunity to take a trip to the closest South African Town Alldays where they can eat out and visit the one and only Bar “At Se Gat”. Visits to a luxury Game Lodge are also optional - due to our regular custom we receive a discounted price of 150 ZAR per night which includes access to the facilities (swimming pool, Bar, optional Game drive) as well as a buffet breakfast - volunteers enjoy this temporary luxury once in a while.

Weekend trips can be arranged depending on demand; future plans are to visit Victoria Falls, Kruger National Park, and a Horse Safari in Mashatu (Botswana). As all activities are optional, volunteers will be provided with costs in advance.

We also indulge in social activities on our weekly town trip for example the cinema and the African Circus (eye opening…!).