Mascom staff moves to preserve vultures
Zolani Kraai | Tuesday August 1, 2023 06:00
Still, vultures in Africa, including in Botswana, face an unprecedented time where they battle with many significant threats and consequently, their numbers dropping to unsustainable levels.
Taking heed of the global call from conservationists, with the support from their employer, Mascom staff recently took to the breathtaking and amazing landscapes of the Tswapong region’s natural and cultural bases of Moremi Manonnye Conservation Trust and Goo-Moremi resorts to give back to the respective communities by feeding the vultures.
An exercise which many may deem uncomfortable to deal with and find its significance, the team, through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme adopted an initiative that sought to motivate them to realise the importance of preserving vultures, through their contribution to the eco-system while also considering the dangers they face in their life span in the habitat.
Sharing the background of the initiative, the Mascom 3 For 3 Vultures Conservation project Team Leader, Maitumelo Kgakololo said they were motivated by the educational information gathered from the conservationists whom they encountered about the endangerment of vultures from Goo-Moremi, and as such they saw it fit to regroup and come up with a proposal to work their part on the conservation project.
She shared that the Mascom 3 For 3 Vultures Conservation team, conceived this year, was made aware of the life-threatening risks vultures are facing and how close they are to extinction. Upon learning about the challenges these iconic birds face, Kgakololo, who is also Mascom’s facilities manager, said they took it up through their CSR to engage other relevant partners in the private sector and business community, to ensure that the project becomes a success. “With Botswana’s vulture populations shrinking and most having migrated, vultures need increased conservation efforts, and this led to the project thus the team undertook an educational session led by the Moremi Manonnye Conservation Trust and Goo-Moremi resort on the importance of vultures, their contribution to the ecosystem, the dangers they face and how they can be conserved,” Kgakololo emphasised.
Appreciating the gesture from Mascom volunteers, Goo-Moremi village chief, Kgosi Major Tshito Days acknowledged their initiative and referred to the significance of Moremi Manonnye Conservation Trust and its existing efforts to conserve nature, especially the vultures as they form significant importance of educating the next generation in the village and the country at large.
For his part, Moremi Manonnye Conservation Trust member, who is also the founding chairperson, Mashatha Busang, also gave a background on the establishment of the trust and its commissioning as well as its mandate carried out over the years. In sharing their experience as a team on the pursue, a volunteer and employee of Mascom, Rollen Galeboe said the activities on the day were vulture feeding, pen cleaning, bone-crushing, and an educational seminar with Standard 7 pupils from the Goo-Moremi Primary School. On a lighter note, Mascom public relations executive, Tirelo Kooagile acknowledged the partners who participated in ensuring that the initiative becomes a success, such as Botswana Tourism Organisation, Goo-Moremi Resort, Senn Foods, Bidvest, and Premier Clothing in collaborating with Mascom.
The Mascom 3 For 3 initiative is a staff-oriented drive which motivates the staff to identify needs in their communities and undertake projects of their choosing to address those needs. The initiative is inspired by the three late Botswana Dikgosi; Khama III of the Bangwato, Sebele I of the Bakwena, and Bathoen I of the Bangwaketse who went out of their way, leaving their daily Kgotla duties, to seek protection for the country. As such, their spirit of volunteerism is what motivates and inspires Mascom staff to do the same for their communities. It should, however, be noted that in 2019, Botswana reported 537 vultures killed by feasting on poisoned carcasses as well as poaching, though not common locally but generally the two factors pose the biggest threat to Africa’s vultures. In Chobe alone, in December 2022, 50 vultures were killed after feasting on a buffalo poisoned by poachers.
Interestingly and also not common in Botswana, the organs of a vulture are used for traditional medicinal use to blend with herbs to make lock charm concoctions. Botswana Dingaka Association member, Motsholathebe Rabakoko confirmed that indeed some practitioners use bird products for medicinal use but he was quick to discourage the use and also took heed of the call to sustain the species.