Botswana communities earn money from wildlife camera photographs in new scheme

Two rural communities located on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana are participating in a new payments scheme that rewards residents for living alongside local wildlife, Mongabay reported. The project is part of the Harmony with Wildlife scheme designed to encourage peaceful coexistence between local populations and wild animals. [1]

According to Mongabay, residents have installed cameras around their villages to monitor wildlife activity. Local community members earn money from photographs of wild animals, such as lions, elephants, and other species that might otherwise raid vegetable gardens or kill domestic livestock. [1]

Botswana translates literally to the land of the Tswana people in the Setswana language, which is spoken by the predominant ethnic group in the country. The San people were the first modern humans to inhabit the region of Botswana, with agriculture first developing in the area approximately 2,300 years ago. [4][6]

The conservation effort takes place alongside ongoing land rights initiatives in the nation. As HEROIC BREAKING NEWS reported earlier, Indigenous San communities in Botswana have been advancing toward securing broader legal rights and protections for their ancestral land located inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. [7]