World Wildlife Day (3 March) aims to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation, and the urgent need to protect endangered species around the world.
That's why we thought that today is a good opportunity to introduce you to the incredible story of the Melorane ERP Game Reserve, which highlights the vital role that community-based conservation efforts play in safeguarding wildlife and their habitats.
The Melorane ERP Game Reserve
Group Elephant's affiliated nonprofit, Elephants, Rhinos & People (ERP) has a notarial (90-year) lease over 15,000 acres of restituted conservation land belonging to the Barokologadi Community Property Association (BCPA), adjacent to Madikwe, the 5th largest conservation area in South Africa.
ERP’s leased land has been formally registered as the Melorane ERP Game Reserve, and is the local platform for ERP’s strategy to generate economic development for our partner rural communities, in this case, for the BCPA and its constituents.
The reserve serves as an example of ERP's multifaceted approach to wildlife conservation, which involves addressing poverty as a root cause of poaching and wildlife habitat destruction. The story of the Melorane ERP Game Reserve is one of community partnership and sustainable wildlife conservation efforts. ERP's long-term commitment to the project has resulted in a successful and growing reserve that has the potential to create a positive impact on both wildlife and local communities.
Watch this video for background on the history of the Melorane ERP game reserve.
What is Elephants, Rhinos & People (ERP)?
ERP was established to safeguard and preserve wild elephants and rhinos in Southern Africa by adopting a poverty alleviation strategy. To accomplish its mission, ERP carefully selects projects based on their potential to create economic engines for impoverished rural communities in areas adjacent to threatened elephant and rhino populations, thereby providing a foundation for long-term sustainability. ERP's unique approach is based on an Ashoka-accredited model that focuses on community relations, poverty alleviation, and impact investment in infrastructure, resulting in effective, non-lethal wildlife conservation efforts.
Since poverty alleviation is a medium to long-term approach, ERP also implements tactical interventions to address poaching and enhance the welfare of elephants and rhinos in the short term. These interventions include elephant relocations, a veterinary emergency response unit, and drought relief programs, among others.
In honour of World Wildlife day, we would like to share these incredible images with you. You can use them as screensavers or print them, so you can always see these amazing creatures.
Download your new wallpapers here!
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