NG/12 Okavango Delta, BOTSwana

NG/12 Guide Training Program

The NG/12 Concession in the eastern Okavango Panhandle is one of the most remote and beautiful corners of Botswana, where the Okavango River begins its slow dispersal across the vast fan of the deltaThe NG/12 Concession in the eastern Okavango Panhandle is one of the most remote and beautiful corners of Botswana, where the Okavango River begins its slow dispersal across the vast fan of the delta.

The four villages that sit at the easternmost edge of this area along the Selinda spillway are Gunotsoga, Eretsha, Beetsha and Gudigwa.

These communities live alongside elephants and the wildlife that migrate in and out of the delta, and they expressed to us their great need for jobs and income-generating opportunities.

With your support, we’ve partnered with these communities, Wild Bird Trust and the African Guiding Academy to establish a guide training program to help them benefit economically from the natural world on their doorstep.

Together we’ve created a program for eight applicants drawn from these four villages, equipping them with the skills and nationally recognised qualifications to become licensed Mokoro Poler Guides.

Crucially, the training includes a real-world internship component — at local lodges or with Wild Bird Trust’s Nkashi Trails program, giving graduates the best possible chance of securing employment upon completing the course. This is what connecting communities to the conservation economy looks like in practice: young people in one of the most remote areas of Botswana, gaining a genuine, skilled pathway forward.

Royal African Foundation (RAF) Volunteers and Royal African Safaris Partners Michael Turner, Shane Hedges, and RAF President Emma Anton (all closely involved in bringing this program to life) were on the ground for the recent launch of the program at the new Wild Bird Trust Knowledge Center in Beetsha. Below are some photos from the day.

Over the coming year, our aim is to continue their training and, next year, run a second training cohort, thereby building a pipeline of qualified guides from these villages. If you’d like to support this work, please click the link below.