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Photos above- - Bukakhue San women gathering kindling for fires.
San Healer dancing with feather

Botswana San Bushmen Launch Ecotourism project Gudigwa Camp to Reduce Pressure on Endangered Wildlife

One of southern Africa's most ancient and vulnerable communities, Botswana's Bukakhwe San Bushmen, have launched a community-run ecotourism project built on preserving their traditional values and protecting the region's declining wildlife.

Working in partnership with Conservation International and Wilderness Safaris, the Bukakhwe Cultural Conservation Trust recently inaugurated the new venture called Gudigwa Camp. The ecotourism venture is fully owned by the Bukakhwe San Bushmen and all proceeds will be funneled back into community development projects. The initiative aims to reduce pressure on wildlife in Botswana's Okavango Delta by providing alternative sources of income that respect the Bukakhwe's cultural heritage.

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Photos: Gudigwa Dancing or a celebratory Bukakhue San Bushman Dance.
Bushman style guest hut at Gudigwa Camp. - (left)

"This integrated and socially-responsible approach to tourism will help deliver important local benefits," said Ms Pelonomi Venson, Botswana's Minister for Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. "The community will be able to maintain their ancient customs, tourists get to experience the rich cultural heritage of the Bukakhwe San Bushmen and the region's endangered wildlife is protected."

Hunting, increased human settlement and livestock encroachment have had a negative impact on some of the region's most endangered species like the African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). Gudigwa's cheetahs, Wattled cranes, lions and leopards are also under pressure. This new project gives the 700 members of the Gudigwa community sustainable alternatives to livestock grazing and incentives to protect local fauna.

The Bukakhwe San Bushmen of Gudigwa live in northeastern Botswana in the upper extremity of the Okavango Delta. Tracing their roots back to Namibia and southern Angola, they have maintained their cultural heritage for thousands of years, amid their unique wetland surroundings.

Gudigwa Camp will host up to 16 guests at a time in comfortable grass huts modeled on traditional Bushmen shelters. Through walking tours, community members will teach guests about San cultural heritage including the use of medicinal plants, gathering water in the dry season, traditional storytelling, song and dance.

Photographs available upon request.

For more information about the project visit: www.gudigwa.com

For more information on Wilderness Safaris visit: www.wilderness-safaris.org

Conservation International (CI) was founded in 1987 to conserve Earth's living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. CI, a field-based organization headquartered in Washington, DC, works in more than 30 countries on four continents, drawing upon a unique array of scientific, economic, awareness building and policy tools to help people find economic alternatives without harming their natural environments. CI employs more than 1,000 employees worldwide, most of whom are residents of the countries in which they work.