1 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,400 Looking at those shots it's really hard to believe 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,900 that this currently thriving area in 3 00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:18,900 South Africa was once dedicated to cattle and 4 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:21,400 pineapple farms, with almost no biodiversity 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,500 and wildlife. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,500 Phinda was established in collaboration with the local Zulu tribal 7 00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:31,000 community to rehabilitate the 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,600 ecosystem, allowing for the return of the wildlife that 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,700 had once flourished in this area. Phinda 10 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:40,200 is local Zulu word for 'return'. Animals were 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,700 brought in from other regions of southern Africa to 12 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:46,100 establish new populations in the conservancy. 13 00:00:47,100 --> 00:00:50,500 There is a lot of doom-and-gloom stories 14 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:53,900 about biodiversity. However, this story 15 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:56,300 is a hopeful one. Phinda is 16 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:59,700 a modern success conservation story, so stick 17 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:02,100 around to learn how they managed to do it. 18 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:06,300 I think the key to the success for Phinda is 19 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:09,200 the fact that they've used this ecotourism 20 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,300 model to benefit not 21 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:15,500 only the reserve itself, but also the 22 00:01:15,500 --> 00:01:17,800 locals communities surrounding them. 23 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:23,600 A lot of work goes into managing 30,000 hectares: 24 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,500 making sure that animals are healthy, 25 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,600 that they are reproducing, but not inbreeding, that 26 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,400 herbivores do not overgraze the land, that 27 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,300 territorial animals have enough space and do 28 00:01:35,300 --> 00:01:38,400 not compete between each other, that invasive species of 29 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,600 plants are under control, that the areas will be 30 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,400 protected by anti-poaching units and that 31 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,200 is all while still running lodges and operating tourism 32 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,700 and voluntourism in the area that brings 33 00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:53,300 much needed funding towards conservation. 34 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,500 With the data collected here by our volunteers that 35 00:01:57,500 --> 00:02:00,100 go out every day with one of our Ecological Monitors, the 36 00:02:00,100 --> 00:02:03,500 data feeds live into our data systems, 37 00:02:03,500 --> 00:02:06,600 which we can then analyse. This helps 38 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,200 us to make our management decisions. 39 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,700 Animal populations in Phinda are thriving 40 00:02:12,700 --> 00:02:15,500 from an initial population of just 30 white 41 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:18,500 rhinos, Phinda now has one of the largest white 42 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:21,700 rhino populations in Africa and 43 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:24,100 have been relocating and repopulating rhinos 44 00:02:24,100 --> 00:02:27,500 to other reserves and countries due to 45 00:02:27,500 --> 00:02:29,200 their success at protecting them. 46 00:02:31,300 --> 00:02:34,000 This is also facilitated what we call 47 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,300 Rhinos Without Borders, so where our white 48 00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:40,200 rhinos have been translocated to Botswana to start 49 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,700 at the founding population there. Phinda is the first private game 50 00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:46,700 reserve ever to be a part of the Black Rhino 51 00:02:46,700 --> 00:02:49,300 Range Expansion Project. So this is a project 52 00:02:49,300 --> 00:02:51,000 together with WWF. 53 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:56,500 The cheetah population here has grown so successfully that 54 00:02:56,500 --> 00:02:59,200 some individuals were relocated to other 55 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,700 parts of southern Africa to establish healthy cheetah 56 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:03,400 populations there. 57 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:07,200 Cheetah alone, Phinda and the MunYaWana 58 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,700 is currently seen as one of the most important cheetah meta 59 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:13,500 populations throughout southern Africa. 60 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:19,200 Phinda has been chosen as a release site for 61 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,500 pangolins that have been confiscated from poachers and 62 00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:25,700 saved from the illegal wildlife trade. The 63 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:28,700 pangolin is arguably the most trafficked animal 64 00:03:28,700 --> 00:03:31,100 on earth leading to their disappearance in 65 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:32,100 the world. 66 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,400 So pangolins were reintroduced here in June 67 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,500 2019, before that pangolins have 68 00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:42,600 been completely extinct from the reserve. Over 69 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,500 time, these animals have now established home 70 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:48,300 ranges, territories, and thankfully have even 71 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:51,100 had pups. It is also an educational ground - 72 00:03:51,100 --> 00:03:54,600 numerous researches occur here 73 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,200 every year. A lot 74 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,400 of data has been collected and that has resulted 75 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,600 in numerous PhDs, Master's projects, also 76 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,700 suitable protocols being out there on what's 77 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:09,900 the right way for soft-releasing lions 78 00:04:09,900 --> 00:04:12,500 into new areas. I have been here 79 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:15,100 a few weeks volunteering with African Conservation Experience and 80 00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:18,600 participating on all the daily tasks needed 81 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,500 for animal management and conservation like monitoring, 82 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:24,100 data collection, updating ID 83 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:27,800 profiles of animals, tracking using 84 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,500 some of the most modern technologies, trying to 85 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:33,100 understand. So what is the reason 86 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,200 of this overwhelming conservation success? Is 87 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,600 it the modern technology and their 88 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,700 ability to use camera traps, telemetry, satellites, 89 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:45,800 drones, acoustic sensors, a variety of 90 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,900 apps for data collection and analysis? 91 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:52,600 This project is neat because our cameras are actually tools and what 92 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,900 we're doing is collecting data that's going to help us identify these 93 00:04:55,900 --> 00:04:58,200 individuals in the wild at a later date. 94 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,800 Is it their ability to utilise conservation tourism and 95 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,300 voluntourism to fund these projects? Around 96 00:05:05,300 --> 00:05:08,500 the world, many protected areas are 97 00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:11,200 underfunded. Allowing visitors to 98 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,800 observe exciting and important conservation tasks provides additional 99 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,900 source of funding for necessary 100 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:20,700 management activities, such as ecosystem monitoring, 101 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,600 anti-poaching patrols, invasive species 102 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,200 eradication, and environmental educational programmes. 103 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:32,700 Tourism potentially has a big role to 104 00:05:32,700 --> 00:05:35,100 play in education when it comes to conservation. One 105 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:38,600 of the best things is there's 106 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,400 so many people that care and that's just really lovely 107 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,300 to see. Just spreading the word of, like, the sort of work that's done 108 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:47,600 here, trying to get more funding and letting people 109 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,400 know how important this is to preserve, is really important. 110 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:56,700 When people connect with nature during their travels, when 111 00:05:56,700 --> 00:05:59,200 they see first-hand how hard it is 112 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,300 to protect our nature and what goes into it, it can lead 113 00:06:02,300 --> 00:06:05,400 them into being more appreciative and become 114 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,600 more invested in protecting it. 115 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:11,400 I think the fact we don't know what we're gonna see or discover 116 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,100 each day... it's very exciting, like every day I've done so far has been 117 00:06:14,100 --> 00:06:17,800 really different. And I've had a really unique experience seeing 118 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,200 loads of animals that are endangered. So 119 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,200 I'd say I'm pretty lucky. 120 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,800 Of course, it is all of the above and more. This project truly 121 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,600 exists due to the exceptional management and 122 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,300 the work of numerous passionate people that spend 123 00:06:33,300 --> 00:06:36,300 hours and days in the bush, making sure that the 124 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:39,600 area is thriving while educating tourists and 125 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,800 visitors, and conducting research that helps other 126 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,500 organisations and reserves to obtain 127 00:06:45,500 --> 00:06:46,700 this success as well. 128 00:06:50,900 --> 00:06:53,400 We mainly focus on movement data and being 129 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,200 able to correlate all of that and expand it over a few 130 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,200 years, and see the movement of different species, how they react 131 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,300 to different weather conditions and habitats and different influences 132 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:05,200 like that. Seeing their movement data, how long it's taken them 133 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,100 to settle in this reserve, will be useful for other reserves 134 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:09,900 who want to do the same thing. 135 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:12,100 Your time and your effort 136 00:07:12,900 --> 00:07:15,400 really help with things like, hands-on things, if we 137 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,100 need help lifting something or moving things, photos 138 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:21,100 for ID kits, like lots of 139 00:07:21,100 --> 00:07:25,400 different small contributions that add up to larger contributions. 140 00:07:26,700 --> 00:07:29,400 I hope that this success story got you 141 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,500 inspired and serves as a hopeful reminder. 142 00:07:32,500 --> 00:07:35,800 When people start seeing the benefit of having tourism 143 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,100 in the area, they are more inclined 144 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:41,400 to wanting to keep the area wild and they also 145 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,300 support these new ventures that are 146 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:45,100 being undertaken. 147 00:07:47,900 --> 00:07:50,500 We want to use tourism to expand, 148 00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:53,400 you know, conservation areas and, not just 149 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,100 expand but to ensure that it sustains itself.