ABOUT THE NUII EDUCATION CENTRE
For communities living in the Northern Erongo and Southern Kunene regions, the risk of conflict with free-roaming elephants can be challenging. The Elephant-Human Relations Aid (EHRA) Education Centre is the latest development in our ongoing PEACE (People and Elephants Amicably Co-Existing) Project, an education programme set up in 2009 in response to the increasing human-wildlife conflict and intolerance towards elephants, that aims to create a harmonious coexistence between elephants and humans.
The new centre, which has been made possible through a collaboration with UK ice-cream brand NUII and Environmental Conservation Organisation WildArk, will be run by EHRA’s PEACE Project team. This project will enable schools, communities, conservancy game guards, elephant guards and field guides to better learn about elephant behaviour and how to protect themselves when coming into contact with their wild neighbours.
Alongside an information centre, the facility will provide both an indoor and outdoor education space which can cater to more than 50 students. A dedicated office for EHRA staff will also enable them to be closer to the community and respond quickly to any problems on-site.
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The support of NUII and WildArk has also been critical in providing essential funding for the new centre and helping the project stay on track. In addition to the centre, NUII and WildArk will help fund at least 20 solar-powered water pumps to provide free access to water for the community, livestock and free-roaming wildlife, replacing the existing diesel-fueled pumps which require payment for fuel to operate.
Kirstin Scholtz, General Manager of WildArk, said: “We chose EHRA's PEACE Project because of their long-standing community-based holistic approach to elephant conservation. We were looking for a conservation project that benefited both people and wildlife, and that would have an impact within 12- 24 months. EHRA already had plans for an education centre and were installing solar water pumps across the region, so it was an excellent opportunity to jump in and help them fund these projects through our partnership with UK ice-cream brand NUII.”
It is such a pleasure to collaborate with WildArk and NUII to build EHRA's first-ever Elephant Education Centre next to EHRA's Base Camp in Damaraland, Namibia.
Featured in Conservation and the Environment in Namibia
September 2021
EHRA’s Conservation Programs Assistance, Anna Sheehama, spoke about our new Environmental Education Center in the Magazine “Conservation and the Environment in Namibia” which was recently published by the Namibian Chamber of Environment (NCE).
“One cannot talk about the conservation of a species without talking about the environment with which it interacts. The new Education Centre will therefore go beyond elephant conservation and include all aspects of environmental conservation”, Anna wrote.
