Bridging conservation and community: A conversation with Lesiba Masibe

It’s said that “it’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving”. This is the philosophy that Lesiba Masibe, ERP Coordinator Limpopo, lives by in his day-to-day activities as part of the P.E.A.C.E Foundation and the work he does within the groupelephant.com programme, Elephants, Rhinos & People (ERP).

Lesiba jumped at the opportunity to present at the EPI-USE AppHaus Pretoria media launch at the beginning of August, sharing the incredible work that he and his team at the P.E.A.C.E Foundation do to serve and empower local communities within rural South Africa.

The insights and experiences shared then were part of a bigger story, and led us to asking him more about the pivotal role he plays in groupelephant.com’s objective of alleviating poverty, in combination with the conservation of rhinos and elephants.

These were Lesiba’s responses to our questions:

1. Can you describe your role, and how your responsibilities contribute to ERP's mission?

I connect and facilitate relationship establishment and management with partners collaborating with groupelephant.com for the implementation of the Elephants, Rhinos & People model.

This is done in various ways, including:

• Assisting communities to establish credible and capable representative structures to represent them in the ERP partnership
• Negotiations with Community Property Associations for ERP buy-in and support
• Identifying economic development and empowerment opportunities for communities adjacent to parks and reserves
• Negotiating co-management agreements with government for reserves under-resourced but with an ERP potential
• Communication and liaison with service providers, stakeholders, community leaders and structures to maintain essential network trust and relationships. This ensures smooth and successful implementations of projects for communities adjacent to parks through the P.E.A.C.E Foundation model.

2. ERP focuses on the conservation of elephants and rhinos while engaging local communities. Could you elaborate on how your role involves balancing conservation efforts with community engagement and development?

Community engagement and development, and the conservation of rhinos and elephants, are two sides of the same ERP coin. It has been proven over time that conservation efforts undertaken with communities as spectators, or playing a minimal role, languishing in poverty, unemployment, lack of economic opportunities and knowledge of the industry, is unsustainable.

The work we do in bridging the gap between conservation and community involvement includes:

• Establishing community representative structures
• Building capacity to empower these structures to participate constructively in the ERP partnership
• Training and providing skills to community members and giving them responsibilities to manage the conservation initiative
• Providing capital to communities to establish revenue-generating enterprises.

3. What inspired you to join ERP and take on the role you currently have? Could you share a significant experience or moment that solidified your commitment to wildlife conservation and community empowerment?

I have been the Chairperson of the P.E.A.C.E Foundation Trust, a sister organisation to groupelephant.com, for over ten years since I joined as a Trustee in 1997.

The P.E.A.C.E Foundation work is anchored around community empowerment and development. So, when the ERP opportunity came, it presented an opportunity for us to increase our footprint and rightfully, to also get involved in an inevitable calling to protect rhinos and elephants.

My commitment to wildlife conservation and community empowerment was cemented, among others, by two moving experiences:

• An occasion where, as part of the ERP food relief programme during the coronavirus pandemic, we provided food to one family, headed by an orphaned young girl, with an elder brother having spent a week in bed without food
• A painful and soft whining sound from a darted rhino as we were dehorning to protect her against poachers.

4. One of ERP's goals is to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Can you discuss some of the strategies or initiatives you've implemented to address these conflicts and ensure the well-being of both animals and local communities?

Most of the interventions we have been involved in have been less about human-wildlife conflict, but more about:

• Rescue and treatment due to injury
• The relocation of elephants that face culling
• The collaring and monitoring of elephants to increase their protection and reintroduction in areas that have not had elephants for a long time.

However we have always been ready to jump into situations where human-wildlife conflict is happening to assist in finding a solution!

5. What do you enjoy most about your role ? Are there specific aspects of your job that bring you a sense of fulfillment or excitement?

I enjoy everything I do in ERP!

6. Conservation efforts often come with challenges. Can you discuss some of the major obstacles you've encountered in your role and how you've worked to overcome them to ensure the sustainability of ERP's initiatives?

Getting buy-in from communities, as well as lack of capacity among community structures to engage constructively in partnerships, is always a problem.

In addition to these, acquisition of land for our purpose, especially from communities who have been forcefully removed from their ancestral land by previous policies, is not easy.

We are able to overcome these through being transparent about what we do, conducting capacity-building workshops for community structures, and allowing potential community partners to enrol transaction advisors of their choice during negotiations.

7. Looking ahead, what are some of your strategic priorities and goals for ERP's operations in Limpopo? How do you envision the Foundation's impact on wildlife conservation and community development evolving under your leadership?

We are looking at

• creating more elephant corridors, reintroducing these wonderful creatures into habitats where they used to thrive;
• strengthening our anti-poaching, monitoring and protection techniques through partnering with government, especially in state-owned reserves which are under-resourced; and
• working with communities to develop their land and create sustainable economic opportunities for their well-being.

These initiatives have already gone beyond the Limpopo province and South Africa, as we have started crafting our footprint in Namibia through the ERP work we are undertaking there.

I see ERP getting stronger, and continuing to build bridges of collaboration and hope between communities of different backgrounds, especially in the conservation and community development landscape.

For more information about the ERP non-profit programme and how you can get involved, visit https://www.erp.ngo/