Wildlands’ Ubuntu Earth Ambassadors are fired up to effect change in their communities, after this year’s first Indaba recently held at the Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve in Howick. The “Ambassadors Indaba” is a 5-day Good Citizenship programme funded by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Land User Incentives programme (LUI) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Green Fund.
The sessions, facilitated by Green Leadership Manager Manqoba Sabela, focused on leadership skills and innovative ways to increase environmental awareness in the broader Wildlands community network. The 27 Ubuntu Earth Ambassadors form part of a team of 42 who will be actively spreading the message of “good citizenship” across the country.
‘Leading by example’ is one of the founding principles of the programme and the workshops began with a personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis to help the Ambassadors develop self-awareness. “This psychometric exercise helps ambassadors acknowledge their strongpoints and improve on their weaknesses,” said Manqoba Sabela of Wildlands. Other leadership activities included creating a leadership shield, solo time, and practicing their workshop facilitation skills.
Water was a key theme at the Indaba. This was fitting as the Ambassadors gear up for celebrations of World Wetlands Day and World Water Day coming up. The ambassadors performed MiniSASS tests in the Umgeni River stream which was led by Empangeni NRM (Natural Resource Management) Supervisor Nokuthula Mdletshe. A MiniSASS (Stream Assessment Scoring System) test is a citizen science river health monitoring tool.
Wildlands Project Information Manager and DUCT (Dusi uMngeni Conservation Trust) board member, Kirsten Oliver, also gave a talk highlighting South Africa’s looming water challenges as this precious resource continues to be degraded. Oliver said, among other things, that mining, litter and solid waste contaminate water hotspots (catchments), which feed into the rest of the country. “Some simple solutions would be cutting back on fossil fuel use and also exploring alternatives such as solar energy systems taking into cognizance the livelihood of species in that particular area,” she added.
Gandhi’s words “You must be the change you want to see in the world” are the inspiration behind the Ubuntu Earth Ambassadors movement and it was evident that the ambassadors took them to heart. Curtis Maninjwa, Port St Johns NRM Supervisor, said: “Listening to inspirational quotes and meeting other ambassadors who possess such insight has touched something in me. The magnitude of this work means that I can earn money in the spirit of changing the world!” Nokuthula Mdletshed, Empangeni NRM Supervisor, explained “My environmental knowledge and awareness keeps increasing because of the platforms such as this Indaba – a meeting of greet minds to seek solutions to environmental challenges in our communities. Learning about the looming water crisis in the country has empowered me to pass on this information and be an exemplary leader.”
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)