20 Mar 2025

Wild Entrust Organisation has been commended for instilling a culture of conservation among young minds.

Tourism information officer at Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), Ms Jwame Pheto commended the organisation during its annual Coaching Conservation workshop in Maun on Tuesday, saying the initiative cultivated a culture of environmental awareness that resonated across communities and generations.

“It also inspires children to care about wildlife and the environment by fostering empathy and promoting positive behaviour change,” she said.

She said it was key to promote conservation efforts and foster a sense of responsibility toward nature, adding that wildlife conservation was critical as it prevented species from becoming endangered or extinct due to human activities or environmental changes due to climate change.

She therefore emphasised the importance of the tourism sector in contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supporting livelihoods with its value chain. The sector contributed estimated 5.1 per cent in 2019, an estimated 5 8420 jobs which represented 7.9 per cent of total employment.

“Our wildlife and wilderness areas are currently our largest tourism attraction. It is therefore essential that we conserve these natural resources to ensure that they continue to benefit the future generations,” she added.

She said BTO encouraged sustainable tourism, noting that they worked closely with local communities including school children eager to learn about conservation issues. Ms Pheto said they worked with tourism operators encouraging recycling and reuse of litter such as tins and plastic considering the fact that Maun was a tourism hub that experienced an influx of tourists.

In 2023, the country she said, received 1 183 432 international visitors and stressed that it was important for tourism to benefit host communities who endured  the pressure of living with wildlife.

The workshop attracted teachers from schools in Maun and surrounding villages, environmental educators and other stakeholders and Ms Pheto appreciated the worskhop as it would inspire teachers to help learners understand the relevance of conservation and sustainable tourism.

In a bid to connect classroom to nature, teachers, she said could also organise field trips to national parks, reserves or local conservation project where learners could directly interact with nature and see conservation efforts in action.
She apprised the gathering about the mandate of BTO which was to market and promote the country as a tourism destination, promote investment in the tourism sector as well as to grade and classify tourism facilities all with a goal of developing a sustainable product.

Wild Entrust programme  facilitator, Ms Patience Isaacs said the workshop would reinforce teachers’ understanding of Coaching Conservation programme’s mandate, benefits and its impact on schools and learners.

She shared some impacts results using a capabilities approach citing that knowledge acquisition increased exponentially as of the 4 732 students in grade seven, none initially recognised the connection between people, animals and resources.

She also pointed that support for vulture conservation increased from 51 per cent to 94 per cent and that 95 per cent of learners pledged to conserve wild dogs by raising awareness and vaccinating domestic dogs.

Ms Isaacs said the programme empowered girls and promoted gender equality citing that studies showed that girls and boys who competed in mixed teams respected, relied on each other and developed better gender relationships as they grew. ENDS