By ensuring and maintaining the health of the reserve’s flora and fauna, many species of animals are exported to other reserves and parks at a premium because there is a high demand for tuberculosis-free livestock. However, there are no breeding programmes at the reserve – each species is monitored to ensure that it does not exceed the carrying capacity of the reserve and thus create an imbalance to ecosystem. This is a necessary step as the reserve is fenced, creating a permanent boundary that prevents many species migrating into or out of the reserve. Therefore, to maintain ecological sustainability predation has to be carefully monitored and controlled to prevent any species beginning to dominate. Of course, maintaining this balance in the reserve also ensures that tourist numbers are up and keeps the cash flow healthy.
Mosetlha Bush Camp located on the reserve extends this vision of sustainability by offering guests the chance to stay at an eco-camp where there is no running water, no electricity or gas, and the primary source of fuel comes from locally sourced wood. Local conditions make this easier to comprehend as energy is only required to cook, heat water, and provide minimal levels of lighting. Central heating is not necessary as even in winter the temperature can be in the thirties. But, wood provides warmth in the cool of the evenings in the form of a camp fire and the embers are used to cook the evening’s meal with. Wood also provides the hot water too, which is heated in a simple donkey boiler that can be decanted into buckets and used for showering – choosing to shower during the day when the ambient temperature is warm makes the process a prosaic one.
However, the camp is not carbon neutral, yet. It uses two fossil fuels: diesel to power its Land Rovers and paraffin to fuel the lamps in the evening. There is certainly an appetite for the camp to shift to solar powered lighting solutions and possibly showers too in the future as both are proving successful in the staff’s quarters and will reduce the camp’s emissions. Increasing solar power capacity will also provide improvements to the camp’s communication systems which are currently compromised by the lack of electricity. Tackling the diesel emissions may not be as easy.
Nevertheless, the camp (and probably the reserve as a whole) has the hallmarks of a sustainable business: an understanding of its environmental impact and responsibility, the need to generate and maintain wealth locally, and a recognition of the role that green technology can have on improving business. My experience also highlighted how a small behavioural change and local factors can combine to reduce the burden on the environment from anthropogenic activity.