EARTHWATCH - Malawi
In October 2017 I spent some time in the Majete Wildlife Reseve in Malawi, documenting the work of Earthwatch and their collaboration with The African Parks Network. In southernmost Malawi, bordered by the Shire River to the east and nestled into the Shire Valley, the Majete Wildlife Reserve is one of four wildlife reserves, five national parks, and over 70 protected forest reserves that lie to the west of Lake Malawi.
An article on the trip can be found here.
Majete Wildlife Reserve is an incredible story of resurgence and restoration. Just 14 years ago, the reserve was dying—an empty forest area devoid of all wildlife, save a few roaming antelope. The last rhinos had been killed in the 1970s, over 300 elephants had been poached from the area, the last one killed in 1992. The main sign of life came from locals illegally cutting down the trees for firewood and charcoal production. With this in mind, it should not be a surprise to hear that prior to 2003, almost no tourists had visited Majete and therefore hardly a single tourist dollar had been invested into the park. A handful of rangers were employed, but there was little to protect.
“There is something incredibly special about sleeping out in the bush like this. The muted sirens, drunken chatter, aggravated car horn and occasional alarm of the city are all replaced with the incessant hum of the wildlife around you. Lying in bed, this background din was sometimes perforated by something closer, something bigger, something louder. One night I listened for what seemed like hours to the gunshot crack of snapping tree trunks as elephants casually knocked them over outside my tent to get to the green leaves up high and tasty roots below. The other thing you notice when sitting outside is the stars. Infinite pinpricks of light that seem to go on forever; so sharp and clear that it’s like seeing a whole different sky from the smattering you might be lucky enough to see above London. A truly special experience in a truly special place.”
The Reserve faced a turning point in 2003 when African Parks, a non-profit organization, entered into a 25-year agreement with the Malawi Department of National Parks and Wildlife to manage Majete and to realize the shared vision of restoring the reserve and creating a park to tempt the tourists back into the area; most importantly, the partnership would enable wildlife to flourish. African Parks brought with it the park and infrastructure management expertise as well as a wealth of knowledge on conservation and regeneration that was needed in order to restore the park to its present success. The past 14 years have seen that dream become a reality. Starting straight away, black rhinos were introduced, elephants followed in 2006 and lions in 2012. In all, since 2003, African Parks has overseen the reintroduction of over 2,500 animals of 14 different species. Currently, total numbers of wildlife in the park are estimated at over 10,000 and it is now Malawi’s sole Big Five Destination.
It isn’t just wildlife populations that have been positively impacted by this partnership. The park employs hundreds of local community members on a full-time basis with many more on temporary work teams. A growing ranger force patrols day and night and, as a testament to their success, not one rhino or elephant has been lost to poachers since 2003.
Majete is a wonderful example of cooperation and the possibilities that such partnerships can bring; how a park once thought dead was revived and what’s more, has flourished.
Celebrating 47 years in 2018, Earthwatch is an organization based on citizen science. This is the simple yet incredibly effective concept that one does not need to be a scientist to conduct science. The underlying factor that unites all of those who go on an Earthwatch expedition is their desire to help make a change for the better, to conserve our planet for those future generations to come. What I personally love the most about this concept is that it truly does have the ability to create change.
“Data collection does not require a degree, it requires diligence, accuracy and, as comes in abundance with volunteers who sign up for an Earthwatch trip, a passion for the environment around them.”
While we were in Majete, our main role was to collect data. We spent our time driving along transects – narrow sections where we made observations and measurements, conducting vegetation surveys, running waterhole counts, and monitoring camera traps. These data help to provide a greater understanding of predator-prey ratios and wildlife numbers, as well as the effect of such populations on local fauna. It is also pure citizen science.
Community outreach with one of the many local schools supported by funding from the park.
