How would you grow food with an elephant in your backyard? Would you send your kids to school with lions on the roam? These are the kinds of real decisions faced by families living with wildlife around the world.

Fortunately, innovative work is taking place in such communities to build safe and sustainable livelihoods and economies whilst cherishing and protecting local wildlife.

In the first episode of Beneath the Baobab, Gordon Buchanan chats with Maxi Pia Louis @maxipialouis1, Director of the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organisations (NACSO) to find out what Community Based Natural Resource Management is.

Namibian-born Maxi’s passion for people and wildlife has driven her to look for better conservation solutions in the face of climate change and increasing economic pressure.

She explains how studying abroad and being a student during the Apartheid years has inspired her work to create positive change for nature and to protect and champion human rights.

Maxi also tells how inspiring eco-tourism schemes and changes to governance have supported successful CBNRM movements across sub-Saharan Africa, and shares her hopes for a future beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lorna Dax, the former Manager of the Khaodi //Hoas Conservancy in Northwest Namibia is now working at the Save the Rhino Trust. She also joins the conversation to share a case study from the eco-tourism scheme.

If you’d like to find out more about NACSO or learn about community based natural resource management, click here:

http://www.nacso.org.na

https://www.cbnrm.net

Plus visit https://jammainternational.com to explore more amazing international projects. 

https://twitter.com/maxipialouis1

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