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Building connections at the Generation Earthshot Leadership Programme, Brazil

By Lesego Mthethwa, field officer, Carnivore Conservation Unit

Endangered Wildlife Trust representative at Generation Earthshot Leadership Programme

In November 2025 I had the privilege of representing the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) at the Generation Earthshot Leadership Programme in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—an experience that offered far more than leadership training. It was a profound personal and professional journey that connected me with 75 young climate leaders from Brazil, South Africa, and Asia, each bringing unique perspectives on justice, resilience, and the urgent need for climate action.

The programme was designed as a fully immersive, in-person experience, ensuring that every interaction, whether in workshops, discussions, or networking, fostered deep learning and authentic connection. From the outset, it was clear that this was not simply a conference; it was a space for transformation.

Building Connections Across Continents

Early in the programme, we spent time connecting and reconnecting—getting to know one another not just as participants, but as emerging leaders rooted in our communities. One of the most meaningful sessions involved café-style conversations with climate leaders from varied sectors. These small-group dialogues were intimate and eye-opening, giving us the chance to speak honestly about leadership, community impact, and the realities of climate justice. Despite our different backgrounds, a powerful common thread emerged: the shared desire to drive change with purpose and urgency.

We also explored leadership through a completely different lens at the Maracanã Stadium, an iconic symbol of Brazilian culture. The setting reminded us that leadership takes many forms and is shaped by our experiences, identities, and the communities we serve.

Learning to Tell Our Stories

A dynamic YouTube Digital Storytelling Workshop taught us how to use narrative to inspire action. As someone working in conservation, this session was invaluable as our work often hinges on our ability to communicate clearly, passionately, and persuasively.

We had a rare opportunity to engage directly with Earthshot Prize Finalists, innovators whose solutions are already shaping a regenerative and climate-positive future. Hearing their stories reminded us that impactful climate action is already happening and that collaboration is key to scaling it.

Our immersive visits to learn how communities across Rio are responding to climate challenges proved to be the most inspiring parts of the programme as they offered real-world examples of resilience, community knowledge, and innovation. Each organisation approached climate issues differently, but all shared one thing: hope grounded in action.

A Global Platform for Youth Leadership

After reflecting on all we had learned, our final day took us to the 2025 Earthshot Prize Summit: Impact Assembly. This event brought together global leaders, innovators, funders, and activists to accelerate solutions at scale. It was empowering to be part of a space where youth voices were not only welcomed but amplified.

During Earthshot Hour, we connected with broader members of the Earthshot community enforcing my realisation that being surrounded by influential changemakers underscores the importance of young leaders in shaping the climate agenda.

The programme culminated in the Earthshot Prize Awards Night, an unforgettable celebration honouring 15 groundbreaking environmental solutions. With presenters such as Cafu, Rebeca Andrade, Sebastian Vettel, and Txai Suruí, and performances by artists including Anitta, Gilberto Gil, Kylie Minogue, Seu Jorge, and Shawn Mendes, the evening became a humbling and deeply affirming moment as I walked the green carpet alongside leaders from around the world.

Generation Earthshot Leadership Programme participants in Brazil

Reflections

The Generation Earthshot Leadership Programme reminded me that leadership is not a title—it is a responsibility shaped by courage, community, and conviction. I left Brazil inspired, better equipped, and deeply committed to contributing to a future where Africa’s young leaders play a central role in shaping climate resilience.

This experience strengthened my belief that our generation has the willingness, the passion, and the power to create meaningful change, and that organisations like EWT are vital in turning that potential into lasting impact.

A highlight of my Rio trip outside the conference? It was my visit to the imposing statue of Christ the Redeemer, a moment that deeply touched the Christian in me and grounded the entire experience in gratitude.

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Cultivating a Greener Future Through Sustainable, Conservation-Compatible Agriculture

By Mukundi Mukundamago, Socio-Ecologist: Sustainable Living Lands, People in Conservation

community members practising sustainable conservation-compatible agriculture

Sometimes meaningful environmental change begins when people gain the confidence, skills, and tools to care for the land they rely on every day. This zeal guided the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s recent community training in sustainable, conservation-compatible agriculture – an initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of Community Property Association (CPA) beneficiaries and other community members to manage their land in ways that support both people and nature.

The five-day training workshop brought together 52 participants from the Western Soutpansberg for practical, hands-on learning focusing on key aspects of sustainable agriculture. These include health, composting, water management, agroecology principles, and planning approaches that support healthier ecosystems. Blending introductory theory with practical demonstrations, enabled participants to test ideas immediately and gain confidence through doing.

Youth involvement stood out throughout the week. A total of 33 young women and actively engaged in discussions and practical activities, showing a strong interest in taking up land stewardship roles within their communities. Their participation demonstrates a growing commitment among younger generations to strengthen local food systems and support conservation-compatible land use. This was strengthened by the participation of elders, creating a perfect blend and a good platform for intergenerational knowledge exchange that is set to blossom in the next few months ahead.

Group discussions saw participants reflect on broader community realities, including the high levels of unemployment, the limited opportunities available to young people, and the family and social challenges created when youth leave for cities. A lack of training and market access, they said, often left young people vulnerable to exploitation and unable to fully develop their livelihoods.

A key discussion centred on the shared “aggregator” model – one centred around a community hub that could combine a communal or rented farm, shared equipment, a packhouse, business and computer centres, and practical training spaces. Such a hub, they explained, could improve bargaining power, support post-harvest processing and distribution, and offer modern training technologies.

Another important topic raised was the need for strong record keeping and clear business planning, with a recognition that the keeping of accurate records helps track progress, identify challenges early, and support decision-making. Developing business plans and understanding local markets were also highlighted as essential steps for those looking to grow beyond subsistence. On a practical level, participants did soil sampling and testing, explored water-efficient irrigation techniques and built demonstration garden beds. They also learned compost-making techniques suitable for local conditions.

To support immediate action, each participant received a set of essential agricultural tools -including a steel rake, 4 prong digging fork, spade, and access to a panga and/ or hand grass slasher to start preparing their garden beds. Seed and seedling starter packs will be distributed in early 2026 to kickstart the first planting season of the year.

The training marks the start of a longer-term journey. A structured mentorship programme is in place to ensure continued support through ongoing technical support designed to help participants deepen their understanding and refine their approaches. Mentors based in the region will visit communities regularly to monitor progress, help address challenges, and offer practical guidance as participants put their training into practice.

youth participating in conservation-compatible agriculture training

** This initiative was supported by Go2Africa

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Uncurling a Future: The Release of 98 Armadillo Girdled Lizards

By Renier Basson, EWT Drylands Conservation Field Officer

Armadillo Girdled Lizard release in the Northern Cape

The Armadillo Girdled Lizard (Ouroborus cataphractus) is one of South Africa’s most remarkable reptiles. Endemic to the western regions of the country, these heavily armoured lizards inhabit rocky outcrops and sandstone crevices across the Succulent Karoo. Their diet consists mainly of insects, especially Southern Harvester Termites (Microhodotermes viator), with the occasional supplement of plant material.

Their most iconic behaviour is their unique defence strategy: when threatened, they clamp their tail in their mouth and curl into a tight, spiny ball. This posture shields their soft underparts and presents a ring of sharp, protective scales to predators. This striking shape resembles the ancient ouroboros symbol of a tail-biting creature, which appears in multiple mythological traditions (and heavily in Japanese visual culture). This resemblance is what inspired the genus name Ouroborus.

Unlike most reptiles, Armadillo Girdled Lizards give birth to live young, usually one or two per year, and mothers have even been recorded feeding their offspring. They are also unusually social: groups of up to 60 individuals may occupy a single crevice, forming long-term colonies that rely on the stability of their rocky habitat.

Despite their resilience, these charismatic lizards face increasing threats. Habitat fragmentation, invasive alien plants, shifting fire regimes, and climate change (particularly changes affecting termite availability) all put pressure on wild populations.

But, the most urgent threat is poaching. The Armadillo Girdled Lizard is now considered one of the most heavily trafficked reptiles in southern Africa. Growing overseas demand for the exotic pet trade has resulted in hundreds being removed from the wild every year. Recently, authorities confiscated a staggering 104 individuals in the Northern Cape.

The confiscated lizards were transported to the Kokerboom Biological Research Station near Springbok, where they received intensive care, under supervision of the African Snakebite Institute (ASI). The individuals were all monitored while regaining their strength in the hope that they could be released back into the wild. The Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform (DAERL) contacted numerous agencies and experts to assess the potential of releasing the confiscated animals back into the wild. It was agreed that a release was possible, as the approximate poaching locality was known, and the joint effort among partners such as DAERL, the EWT, the SA National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and ASI ensured that a suitable site with a willing landowner could be identified to receive the rehabilitated animals.

Before releasing the lizards, DAERL and EWT officials surveyed the identified private property to determine whether the habitat was suitable – ultimately selecting roughly twelve sites that met the species’ ecological requirements.

Unfortunately, due to the poor conditions in which the Armadillo Girdled Lizards were found, six individuals did not survive. Most of the remaining 98 lizards were implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to allow for identification upon recapture, as part of the long-term monitoring. The individuals were then separated into seven mixed-age groups and released across the preselected sites. Upon release, the lizards quickly disappeared into their new crevices.

The lizards are being monitored to determine whether they have settled into their new home. The collected data will guide future decisions on relocations and the management of confiscated Armadillo Girdled Lizards in the Northern Cape. It is hoped that this information will inform decisions regarding the vast number of confiscated individuals still held in captivity in the Western Cape.

This release represents a major milestone for Armadillo Girdled Lizard conservation. However, the challenges are far from over. Demand from the illegal pet trade continues to grow, and once animals leave the country, they are almost impossible to recover. What we can do is raise awareness, avoid sharing GPS coordinates of sightings, refrain from posting identifiable habitat features online, and support enforcement agencies by reporting suspicious activities.

Every confiscated lizard represents both a loss and an opportunity. With collaboration, vigilance, and continued research, South Africa can protect this species – ensuring that the iconic, tail-biting “ouroboros” of South Africa remains safely coiled within its rocky landscape.

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Pride & Progress: Inside the Kgalagadi’s Desert Lion Survey

By Alison Govaerts and Nonkululeko Makobong, Carnivore Conservation Unit

desert lions photographed during Kgalagadi lion population survey

The lion (Panthera leo) is a predominant species in the functionality of ecosystems across Africa. These cats play a vital role in maintaining a balance in the food chain and in supporting biodiversity.

In the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, spanning parts of South Africa and Botswana, lions have adapted to one of the harshest environments. These desert lions roam a landscape of vegetated red dunes, depend on manmade waterholes for water, and need to cope with temperatures ranging o from scorching to freezing. Despite these challenging conditions, the park is home to a variety of bird, reptile and mammal species; enough to support a healthy lion population.

To develop and implement effective conservation efforts for this species, it is crucial to monitor the populations closely. That’s why the Endangered Wildlife Trust, in collaboration with SANParks, surveyed the lions in the park over three months to obtain robust estimates of population numbers and demographics. Much like the lions, the research team needed to adapt to the challenging environment while enjoying the privilege of following the lions until October 2025.

To obtain robust estimates of the lion population, we used what is known as a spatial capture-recapture methodology, which meant we had to identify as many lion as possible through physical searches and using camera traps, and measuring the effort it took to get them.

Because lions do not have spots like Leopards or African Wild Dogs, the key to identifying them lies in tiny whisker spots on their faces. Each lion has a unique pattern of whisker spots, on both the left and right of its face. Therefore, you must get quite close and have proper cameras to capture this.

There were two ways to get an identification: the team would either drive transects while recording the kilometers driven on a mobile tracking APP on our smartphones and find lions close enough to identify; or we would capture them on the camera traps that we put out. Because the team identified the lions individually, there were no double counts, and pride/coalition catalogues could be constructed based on lions spotted together. Only lions above the age of one were counted, as the mortality rate among younger lions is very high.

camera trap image from Kgalagadi lion population survey

In the field

Life in the field was far from ordinary, and definitely not your average day at the office. The area is remote, which meant only one town visit a month for massive bulk shopping and limited contact with the outside world – only one of the camps had good cellphone reception. The team relied on hefty cameras, rugged 4×4 vehicles and each other. In each transect, two people shared a vehicle: one drove over treacherous dunes while the other scanned for lions that blended perfectly into the sand. Success hinged on flawless teamwork. The team of six moved like nomads, rotating between the three camps (Twee Revieren, Nossob and Mata Mata) each week, following the lions across hundreds of kilometers of dunes. Since we all hailed from different walks of life, the team had to adopt a number of intriguing lifestyle changes.

One highlight was the day we stumbled upon a pride of seven lions – six lionesses and a male. It topped a day in which we had had three other lion sightings. It’s breathtaking to realise that you would have to tell them apart later.

Data processing turned into a puzzle of whisker dots and pride dynamics. This was tackled directly after each transect to keep the information fresh. When the dust settled, the results were encouraging. The Kgalagadi lion population is thriving and unusually well‑balanced. While many regions show a 2:1 female‑to‑male ratio, Kgalagadi prides exhibit a near‑even sex ratio, indicating strong genetic health and stable social structures. This differs from other prides that often have two or more adult males instead of one male dominating over one pride, like in other protected areas.

The survey’s findings provide significant information about the lion population dynamics in the area. However, the extensive sand dunes and limited road network posed logistical challenges. The restriction to certain areas influenced the detection probability and overall sampling, and there was a week when all the teams had no lion sighting at all. This was discouraging, but that is the reality of working in a Transfrontier conservation area; the animals can move around freely as they choose. Despite these limitations, the team pioneered through and conducted the study to the best of their ability. More than 100,000 kilometers were driven, and even more pictures captured. The survey was a success!

A detailed report is being drafted by the team. The results will inform conservation and management strategies and ultimately contribute to the long-term conservation of the lions of the Kgalagadi.

** ** The EWT would like to thank its sponsors – the Lion Recovery Fund and the Ford Wildlife Foundation – for their support during the 95-day Kgalagadi lion population survey.

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Lions: a year of success, collaboration and testing new ideas

By Marnus Roodbol, project manager: Carnivore Conservation Unit

human-lion conflict mitigation technology in lion conservation efforts 2025

Three hundred and sixty five days may sound like a long time, but when you’re driven by purpose, the year passes quickly.

Throughout 2025, our lion conservation work expanded significantly across South Africa and Mozambique as the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) also embarked on an exciting new initiative in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park between South Africa and Botswana. Read: Pride & Progress: Inside the Kgalagadi’s Desert Lion Survey

Kruger National Park

During 2024, SANParks, the EWT, the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation (GKEPF), and the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) joined forces to discuss the future of lions in the northern Kruger National Park. Since beginning our work in this region in 2020, our population surveys have revealed a concerning decline in lion numbers, highlighting the urgent need for targeted conservation action.

To better understand population dynamics, several lions have been fitted with GPS collars allowing our team to track movement patterns, identify stable prides, and monitor areas frequented by nomadic males. The data we are gathering will guide long-term conservation planning aimed at restoring lion populations to their historic strength within the park.

Limpopo National Park

Limpopo National Park in Mozambique has been severely affected by the civil wars spanning almost two decades. Recovery has been slow, and today, the park remains vulnerable to poaching, particularly the targeting of lions for their body parts.

The park functions as a “sink area”, meaning that it does not yet sustain resident prides but instead receives dispersing lions from the adjacent Kruger National Park. Females often cross the border with their cubs when prides are taken over by new males, while younger males move through during their nomadic phase.

Our current efforts in Limpopo focus on two key activities:

Camera trap surveys in a pre-selected grid to assess biodiversity.
Supporting lion rangers with essential field equipment to enhance their ability to patrol, track, and monitor lions on foot.

Data collection continues, with analysis scheduled to begin in January 2026.

Testing the Waters: Livestock Conflict Mitigation

An exciting project embarked on has been our collaboration to rest innovative solutions for human-lion conflict with the global company CLS. This has included the development of a proof-of-concept project where cattle are fitted with GPS ear tags to monitor their movements and detect when they enter known lion territories.

Although still in its early stages, the project has already recorded several instances of livestock predation in adjacent municipal parks. With continued support, we aim to scale up this initiative in 2026, offering practical tools to help communities coexist safely with wildlife.

Together, these projects represent EWT’s commitment to securing a future where lions — and the people who share their landscapes — can thrive side by side.

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