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The project, a collaboration between Siren, Painted Hunting
Dog Research Project and Tusk Trust was successful in gaining a grant from
the UK Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species funding competition,
March 2002.
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Protecting African painted hunting dogs: integration of conservation and development |
African Painted Hunting Dogs Educational materials
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Painted Hunting Dog conservation
The Iganyana Bush Camp programme at the Dete Community Conservation Education Centre was set up to promote an interest and understanding of wildlife
conservation in local communities around Hwange National Park.
The material included
was produced for the Bush Camp and provides logistical information on how to go about managing a bush
camp as well as extensive teacher support materials and ideas for outdoor education activities.
It is hoped that Iganyana's experiences might be used as a foundation by other outdoor education initiatives to build similar programmes elsewhere.
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Background |
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A dog may be a man's best friend but man is not always
a best friend to a dog. Man has persecuted the species to the edge of extinction.
Before the turn of the century, tens of thousands of these social creatures
roamed across 34 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Now only a few thousand
of these highly endangered, highly social dogs exist in fragmented populations
in only four countries. The cause of their decline is resoundingly familiar.
Dogs have been mown down by cars (35%) and massacred by snares (20%). The
rest have been shot. African hunting dogs however, have a friend in the
Painted Hunting Dog Research Project (PHDRP), run by Greg Rasmussen, with
whom Siren is teaming up to establish this project.
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Background |
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The PHDRP has been involved in dog conservation and raising
awareness among local communities for many years, during which time they
have helped reverse the decline of the dog population in Zimbabwe. They
have secured a 100 hectare site from the local government but more help
is needed and Siren and the PHDRP are teaming up to establish a 'dog house'
where people can congregate to gather knowledge about how to live with the
dogs and benefit from them. This purpose-built Conservation Education Centre
is currently being built on a site near Dete, adjacent to the Hwange National
Park in the far west of Zimbabwe. For painted hunting dogs to survive, local
communities must be active in and benefit from conservation efforts. The
project aims to understand why painted hunting dogs are persecuted and pass
on this information to local people and beyond.
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From Awareness to Action |
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Key Outputs:
Assess the reasons (in social, ecological and economic terms) why humans persecute the dogs and use this information to develop possible solutions to the conflict with local people.
Click here to download the Participatory Rural Appraisal Report, on understanding relevant social, economic and environmental perspectives of communities adjacent to painted dog populations.
The assessment will be extended to stakeholders at other sites in Zimbabwe where viable populations of painted hunting dogs are possible, such as Matusadona. The project is working with local people to develop and promote alternative livelihoods, which take advantage of the anticipated tourism to the Education Centre, such as production of artefacts, paper making, giving tours An education programme is being developed in conjunction with the Education Centre in collaboration with Zimbabwean teachers. The programme will work with children across Zimbabwe, who will be able to stay at the centre and journey into Hwange National Park with expert naturalists. The centre will also develop national curriculum support materials and teacher resource packs, which can be used throughout Zimbabwe. The centre will be home to a multitude of resources and activities, including poster, 'museum' and video displays, and interactive education activities, including games, theatre, dance, scientific observation and videos for locals and visitors. Many of these will be adapted for use locally, throughout Zimbabwe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Workshops and materials will be prepared to raise awareness amongst particular stakeholder groups, such as children of different age groups, farmers, local businesses and political groups. A children's storybook about the dogs will be produced for use locally, throughout Zimbabwe and beyond.
Click here for a full copy of the Darwin Initiative proposal
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Further Information |
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PHDR
WildCRU
Volunteer on this project
www.darwin.gov.uk
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