This program is putting young Black South Africans at the heart of wildlife photography and conservation

In the towns surrounding Kruger National Park, in northeast South Africa, many Black residents have gone their entire lives without seeing some of the country’s most famous wildlife.

Despite living a stone’s throw from one of South Africa’s largest natural reserves, home to elephants, lions and more, seeing these animals face-to-face seems to be a luxury reserved for others.

Award-winning, Black-run program Wild Shots Outreach (WSO) has spent the last eight years attempting to change that. Connecting with local schools, the organization is introducing young Black South Africans to photography and conservation through workshops and game drives – taking students through Kruger National Park and surrounding areas to see encounter wildlife – and it has proved so successful that one of its alumni now runs the program.

Empowering local communities

Founder Mike Kendrick worked as an assistant headteacher at a school in Bristol, England, before starting WSO. The idea for the program came to him during a trip to South Africa in 2015, when his wife, zoologist Harriet Nimmo, organized a symposium to celebrate wildlife photography in Africa.

“We had world-standard keynote speakers, but we couldn’t find Black photographers from South Africa to speak and we thought, ‘well, something’s not quite right here,’” he says.

Later that year, Kendrick and his wife moved to Hoedspruit, just outside of Kruger. “We realized that none of the young Black people from the local community had ever been into Kruger Park or any of the other reserves,” he says. “It was really, really shocking.”

It was these observations that pushed Kendrick to set up WSO and begin reaching out to local schools and youth centers to engage with the next generation of Black photographers and conservationists.

Vusi Mathe is one of over 1,300 local residents who have taken part in the program. Mathe initially wanted to be a car designer, but WSO’s visit to his high school sparked a career in photography. He says this engagement has been crucial for further encouraging locals to get involved with conservation.

“How can you love something that you’ve never seen?” Mathe asks. “Getting local people involved has a significant impact.” With this exposure to wildlife, he believes local communities are better equipped to join supportive wildlife efforts.

“For me, being part of conservation (is important) because I’m breaking the barriers and that notion that you can’t making a living out of photography,” he adds. “I think having Black people run the program and be role models is so important. In my community, there is the idea that photography and conservation aren’t things you can carry on doing as an adult … but now I’m seeing my community understand this career more.”

With his skills gained from WSO workshops, Mathe has become a professional photographer for organizations such as Global Conservation Corps and worked as an ambassador at media network Sunshine Cinema, screening films to local communities addressing issues such as conservation.

Another WSO success story is Melody Mnisi, who now works as a nature guide in the greater Kruger Park area. Her aptitude for working with animals was first picked up at school, but she was unaware that careers in the field were possible. Having been introduced to wildlife through WSO, Mnisi is now passing on skills to fellow young South Africans as a guide for Koru Camp, a non-profit educational organization. “We take local people on game drives (in nearby parks) to teach them about wildlife. Back at the camp, we offer environmental education, and how they can keep the environment clean,” she says.

Female nature guides are in the minority in South Africa, and Mnisi adds that her work includes empowering women.

Giving people a voice

Rifumo Mathebula was one of WSO’s first students, in 2016. In 2020, he became its program director, taking the reins from Kendrick, and in 2022 won the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Young Environmentalist of the Year Award for his work as an environmental educator, photojournalist and filmmaker.

Mathebula says his presence as a Black photographer is crucial in passing on his experience to the next cohort. “Through having me there to teach with Wild Shots Outreach, it gives people an idea that they can be more comfortable when they talk with me, especially when you talk with them in their own language,” he adds.

The program is starting to look beyond South Africa as well, partnering with schools and youth centers in Kenya, Namibia and Botswana.

Despite the strides made in local engagement and education, Mathebula says more work still needs to be done to further involve people in the area. “I think we still need to do a lot of conservation awareness to local communities, because there’s still a lot of people that don’t know anything about it. There’s still a huge gap … it can really affect conserving nature,” he says.

For Kendrick, it’s rewarding to see WSO’s alumni taking the reins and making their mark on conservation.

“Seeing somebody like Rifumo generate his own momentum and to see his passion for working with his own community is fantastic,” Kendrick says. “Seeing Melody work in a camp set up for people from local communities and sharing her passion … to have been part of facilitating that feels very, very special.”

“Young Black Africans now have a voice (in conservation) when they haven’t really had one in the past,” he adds. “Hopefully we’re starting to add more Black voices and Black photographers to that.”

This story has been updated to clarify Vusi Mathe’s role with Sunshine Cinema.

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