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The edgy but respectful discussion about the controversial Hwange lion hunt has been FASCINATING and a good example of the type of engagement that is so important for Africa going forward. Enough of the barking and bullying on social media! Soon our private travel & conservation club will include ongoing safari tips and other useful info. Stand by.
CLUB note: If you haven’t yet made use of your invitation code to join up (emailed to you on 9+11 August – check your spam folders), please please please do so. The club is free – with significant travel and other benefits. Non-newsletter subscribers have to go through a vetting process in order to join the club. If you can’t find that emailed invitation code, please email teamAG and request one.
Chuffed, got my second Pfizer Covid jab a few days ago! The sooner we’re all jabbed up the sooner Africa’s safari industry will recommence.
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
From our Editor-in-Chief
Zambia has a new president-elect. Congrats to him etc. Now, if we might prevail upon his soon-to-be Excellency Hakainde Hichilema and his liberal government to reverse some of the, to put it mildly, bizarre decisions to exploit that magnificent country’s exceptional national heritage (mining and commercial agriculture).
In our first story below, we journey to Western Namibia. It is difficult to describe the feeling of driving down the salt highway, the Atlantic on one side, the Namib desert on the other; of being lost in the red dunes; of exploring the ephemeral rivers and craggy mountains. This is a landscape that sings rich songs to the human soul.
In our third story below, we treat you to a gallery of wonders from our Photographer of the Year – a selection of Hannes Lochner’s favourites and the stories behind each image. A perfect way to settle into the weekend and inspire your next trip to the African wild.
From our Scientific Editor
Our newsletter this week features two different aspects of western Namibia – the first a more complicated look at a local community’s conservation strategy, the second a celebration of its beauty and tourism wonder.
As is always the case when trophy hunting in Africa is placed under the spotlight, the furore over the death of Mopane the male lion has once again raised familiar questions about the benefit of hunting to local communities and conservation in general. The inevitable outcome is that popular opinion tars all hunting operations by the same disapproving brush.
Of course, the situation is always far more complex. As our third story attests, there are places where, by all accounts, sustainable hunting has proved a successful conservation tool. Read more about how one community in western Namibia turned from cattle farming to wildlife hunting – protecting precious habitats, saving wildlife and improving livelihoods in the process.
Story 1
https://africageographic.com/stories/western-namibia-shades-of-ochre/
THIRSTLAND SAFARI
Western Namibia is a land of heat, sand, sea and remarkable biodiversity surviving against the backdrop of harsh but stunning scenery
Story 2
https://africageographic.com/stories/why-rural-communities-choose-trophy-hunting-over-cattle/
WILDLIFE vs CATTLE
Rural communities choose wildlife over cattle if they can see and enjoy long term benefits from trophy hunting – says Namibian community member
Story 3
https://africageographic.com/stories/hannes-lochner-2021-photographer-of-the-year/
EPIC IMAGES
2021 Photographer of the Year Hannes Lochner shares a selection of his favourite images and the stories behind them
DID YOU KNOW: The word porcupine’s roots are the Latin words ‘porcus’ or pig and ‘spina’ meaning thorns – a thorny pig. Of course, the porcupines are rodents not porkers!
WATCH: Possibly the world’s cutest animals coming out for the first time (1:10)
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