Namibia - Land of Conservation

This summer, I traveled with Project Dragonfly (https://www.projectdragonfly.org/) to Namibia. Why Namibia, you ask? I asked myself the same thing. Although I did not really have the answer to that question before I went, I was happy to travel to a place that I never expected to see in my life. So, I packed my bags and off I went.

My first view of Namibia was from the plane, as we flew past my destination to the Johannesburg Airport.

On the plane, I met some researchers who were traveling to Namibia to gather some data in support of the theory known as Snowball Earth; which theorizes that at one point, the entire earth was iced over, looking like a snowball. There are areas in northern Namibia where some very old rock is exposed, allowing for them to be extracted and studied. For more information on this theory, check out the website http://www.snowballearth.org/.

The morning of July 3, I gathered with a group of 20 or so strangers, with whom I would explore Namibia. Our destination: the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), founded and directed by Dr. Laurie Marker, works tirelessly to preserve the natural populations of Cheetahs in Namibia. They do this through education, research and more education. The drive, collaboration, insight and experience of the CCF team is truly impressive and inspirational.

Feeding cheetahs.

Vet staff conducing a physical.

Analyzing sperm.

Discussing genetics.

Cheetah tracking data.

Cheetah radio-collar.

You can see more pictures of CCF at my website http://ageorgianaturalist.weebly.com/ or at the CCF website http://cheetah.org/. Of course the strangers of July 3rd became close friends and fellow explorers.

Although I have always known education to be key for successful conservation, I have never seen it done in such a real way as I did at CCF. The CCF staff works directly with local cattle farmers, who sometimes trap and kill cheetahs, to educate them on how to protect their cattle while also allowing the cheetahs to live alongside them. When you have half a day, ask me to tell you about it. You will be impressed. I promise.

The efforts of Dr. Laurie Marker and the incredible conservation biologists that work alongside her are making great strides in conserving not only cheetahs, but native ecosystems, which benefit all.

Thank you, Dr. Marker! And thank you, Project Dragonfly!