01x07 - Episode 7

[bunniefuu]

[Mosaku] Of all the
spectacular places on

our planet...

...there is nowhere
like Africa.

[♪ tribal music playing]

But Africa is changing

faster than ever.

Wildlife and the
ecosystems it depends on,

are facing enormous
challenges.

But there is hope.

Across the continent,

a new movement is rising.

African explorers,

scientists,

and communities,

striving to protect habitats
and reverse species decline.

Building a future
where people and

nature can both thrive.

This pioneering,
African-led approach

to conservation is the hope
for Africa's Wild Future.

[♪ theme music playing]

-All good?

-When people
think about Africa,

they think about lions
and rhinos and elephants,

but there is
so much more diversity.

-We have a continent
full of biodiversity,

full of different animals
that interact to create

these amazing ecosystems.

-There are savannas.

There are wetlands.

There are
incredible seascapes.

Rugged mountains.

-We have the world's largest,
hottest desert,

the immense Sahara.

-So we have the
second largest rainforest

in the world.

The Congo basin,
and it's huge.

There's so
much in there.

[Resson] When you watch
some of the incredible

National Geographic footage,

it is something to see.

I think very often
people want to get lost

in an alien earth
that has no people in it.

But there is so much
happening just outside

of the camera shot.

[Mosaku] Africa's
ecosystems are under pressure

like never before.

We are undeniably
in a time of crisis.

Climate change and biodiversity
loss are very real.

In the past 50 years,
Africa has lost 76% of

its wildlife.

There were once half
a million lions.

Now, there are
only 20,000.

And that's just
one species.

[Resson] That is
devastating and terrifying.

But even in the
midst of this crisis,

there are people working to
pull so many of these challenges

back from the brink.

[Mosaku] Across the continent,

Africans are shaping
the future of conservation.

The life's work of one
pioneering wildlife vet,

has shown it's even
possible to reverse

species decline, in
an extraordinarily

short space of time.

-I am Dr. Gladys
Kalema-Zikusoka.

For over 28 years,
I've dedicated my life

to protecting the
endangered mountain gorillas.

When I'm with them,
I really always feel like

a deep connection.

When I first started working
with the mountain gorillas,

they were
close to extinction.

[Mosaku] Just 30 years ago,
deforestation and hunting

had decimated
their numbers.

In Uganda, there
were only 300 left.

Mountain Gorillas were
about to disappear,

forever.

No one realized at the
time that it would require

a completely new
approach to save them.

[Gladys] Oh, so that's
the silverback, Bnindo.

He's got a cut
on his nose.

And that's why he's
called Bnindo,

Bnindo means big
nose in Ruchiga.

[Mosaku] Uganda's Bwindi
Impenetrable Forest is

home to almost half of the
world's mountain gorillas.

Only 321 square kilometers,

it is surrounded by
farmland and people.

[Gladys] Gorillas and
humans are very similar.

We are all great apes.

We share 98.4%
genetic material.

Very curious.

He's checking us out.

Oh, oh, mm, move.

You're not going to be
playing with me today.

I grew up in Kampala.

I was the lastborn
in a family of six.

My elder brother used to
bring stray cats and dogs home,

so I fell in
love with them,

and they became my
main companions.

I got an opportunity
to study at the

Royal Veterinary College,
University of London.

I had this feeling that
I wanted to be a vet who

works with wildlife.

I was 26 years old
when I started working

as Uganda's
first wildlife vet.

Ouch!

It was a huge job.

I was responsible for
the welfare of all the

wild animals
in the national parks.

I was learning so much.

Sweet.

Okay, this is
the vet officer.

I want to ask you
those questions again.

[Mosaku] By 1996,
Gladys had been on the

job for just 9 months.

[Gladys] I received a
call that the gorillas

in Bwindi were losing
hair and developing white,

scaly skin.

I was very concerned 'cause
it hadn't been recorded in

mountain gorillas before.

When we
got to the group,

they were really scratching.

The baby gorilla
had lost almost all its

hair and was crying.

It was an emergency.

Having seen that we are
so closely related to gorillas,

the best place I
could possibly get a clue

to what this
could be was going to my

human doctor friends.

I asked her what is the
most common skin disease

in people, and she
said to me, scabies.

[Mosaku] So Gladys
began treatment using

human medication.

[Gladys] Luckily,
all the ones that we

treated got better.

But the poor baby, the
infection was so severe.

[Mosaku] Sadly, the baby
gorilla didn't survive.

[Gladys] Already
there were only about



and then we lost
this baby gorilla.

And it turned out that
the scabies came from the

people living
around the park.

This particular gorilla
group always liked to go

outside the park to eat
people's banana plants,

and we think they found
dirty clothing on a scarecrow.

And that's where
they got scabies from.

It was a lightbulb moment
because I just felt like wow,

you know, you couldn't
really protect the gorillas

and keep them healthy
without improving the health

of their human neighbors.

We needed to think about
what we can do to really

holistically protect
the mountain gorillas.

[Mosaku] Gladys realized
that increasing the number

of gorillas depended
on the local community.

Their futures were
completely intertwined.

[Gladys] So we met with 1,000
people in eight villages,

told them how
gorillas got sick,

and they came up with
really good suggestions.

We started to work closely
with community volunteers

who helped to improve
people's health,

hygiene and
conservation practices.

We started off
with 26 volunteers,

and now we have


over 50,000 people.

It's very important
that they're the ones who

educate their communities.

We also have 150 volunteer
Gorilla Guardians.

They monitor the health of
the gorillas and herd them

back to the forest
whenever they come out.

They do it safely so that
people and gorillas aren't hurt.

We also realized that
many people are unhealthy

because they are poor.

And so we started a
global coffee brand.

Giving coffee farmers
a good price for good coffee.

And a donation from
every bag of coffee sold

can then support
the work that we do.

As we improve community
health, gorillas are

falling sick less often,
but also communities are

getting more positive
about conservation.

[Mosaku] As a result, the
number of mountain gorillas

in Uganda has increased
by over 50% in 25 years.

It's one of the planet's
greatest conservation

success stories.

[Gladys] Here they are.

She's there, come and
see the baby, come, come.

This is amazing,
it's rare for a female to

allow you to see her baby.

At this age, they
hide them quite a lot.

[Mosaku] Dr. Gladys'
groundbreaking work,

connecting the health of
gorillas with the health

of local people,

has become a model
for a more holistic,

community-driven
approach to conservation.

Now widely known as
the One Health approach,

it is being applied to
great apes across Africa,

Elephants in the Serengeti,

Rhinos in Kenya,

and lemurs
in Madagascar.

[Gladys] So I'm so excited
about engaging the next

generation and sharing our
approach with other people

across the African continent
and around the world.

[Mosaku] The future,
for Mountain Gorillas

looks brighter...

But across Africa there
is one issue impacting

the lives of animals
more than anything else.

-I think the biggest
threat to wildlife today

is habitat loss.

Land use changes.

We are seeing conversion
of land to farming,

growth of towns,

infrastructure.

[Mosaku] Both agriculture
and urban areas are expanding

faster in Africa than
on any other continent.


are cut down every year.

Many destined for export.

-Animals are
losing their homes.

Africa is the home
for these animals.

They have nowhere
else to go.

[Mosaku] In
the last 45 years,

the population has grown from


with a rising middle class.

-The African continent
today is one of the most

dynamic places on earth.

There's incredible energy.

-By 2050, Nigeria will
be the third largest

population in the world.

People will need
space to develop,

to make a living.

Those are all valid
human desires.

-So we want to develop,

but we must find a way to

develop in
conjunction with nature.

-We need to
redefine development,

and we need to see that
conservation is very much

part of that
development story.

[Mosaku] Africa's river
basins support more life

than any other ecosystem.

If the continent is
to continue thriving,

it's important to understand
how development affects key

ecosystems like rivers
over the coming decades.

To do that, we
need to know the state

of Africa's rivers today.

-The Great Spine of
Africa is a series of


assessing the health

of Africa's rivers.

So that we can manage
them effectively,

so that we
can develop sustainably.

I'm Dr. Steve Boyes.

I'm a
seventh-generation African.

Born in South Africa.

For the last 15 years,
I've traveled about

12,000 miles on
Africa's rivers.

That's about halfway
around the world.

[Mosaku] Steve's mission
is to build a living record

of Africa's rivers now,
which will become a vital

reference point
for the future.

-What we are
doing is establishing early


baselines so that

we know exactly what
these rivers are like.

So that we can measure them
again in 2035, 2050, 2070,

and have a reference
to go back to.

[Mosaku] Today, they begin
the first leg of their most

ambitious journey yet.

[Steve] This is the


We're setting out to
survey the longest river

in Africa, the Nile.

And that's gonna take us

two, two and a half
years to complete.

Nice and comfy.

-Too heavy,
but I will manage.

[Steve] Everyone on
this expedition is African.

We have team
members from Botswana,

from Zambia, almost
half the team is Rwandan.

I think we're
getting close,

it's just down here.

Whoa, slippery!

Phew.

Is this it?

[Emmanuel] Yeah.

-You can see this
is a small little spring.

It's got a little
shimmer to it as water comes

in from the landscape.

[Mosaku] It might
not look like much,

but this is the
source of the Nile,

the furthest point
from the sea,

on the longest river on earth.

-And this is the beginning of
a river that's going to travel


Mediterranean and grow into

something that you cannot
see the other side of.

Wow, it's flowing nicely!

We've just made it out
of the National Park.

The river has grown
from that small little

quivering spring
to a flowing river.

Up at the sources,

you're not seeing or
finding much in the water,

but here the
oxygen is up to 100,

so it's a
living river now.

-Okay, and go.

[Steve] The animals, even the
small macro invertebrates,

they will tell us how
healthy the system is.

Look at that guy!

[Sabine] Monster!

[Mosaku] As they
descend the river,

they'll gather information
the entire way.

Water quality, pollution,
wildlife, and land use.

Africa's rivers have never
been studied like this before,

and never in this detail.

-It's like the
veins in your body.

You take blood to understand
how healthy you are.

So, the river's really
gonna tell you how healthy

the ecosystem is.

We are counting
every single bird.

Ah, yellow-billed stork!

Copy.

[Sabine] Cool, Hamerkop.

[Steve] Every animal,
person, fishing net...

[Nisamwe] Amahoro!
[Steve] ...settlement.

We've got yams
and cassava, 50.

-Copy.

[Steve] Bananas, 50.
[Emmanuel] Copy.

[Mosaku] Every
observation helps create

a much larger picture,

building a living
record of the river and

everything it sustains.

-Two crowned cranes!

You see them there.

So beautiful.

A very sensitive species.

Endangered.

And they can choose
with their wings,

so they're surveying
habitat quality,

if you find birds there,

there's something
good about that spot.

It's not just the river,
it's the people living

along the river.

[Sabine] Stopping
for research.

[Mosaku] You can't understand
a river without meeting

the communities
that depend on it,

and have known the river
intimately for generations.

[Steve] We try to stop and talk
to every person that we can,

whether they're
farming or fishing.

They have an
encyclopedic knowledge

of that river
in living memory.

-This.
-This... and this one?

-This is the one.
-Okay, thank you.

There is something about
rivers that has absolutely

captured my imagination.

But it began with parrots.

I mean, I'm one of the
most published parrot

biologists on the
African continent!

In 2000, I was
doing my PhD fieldwork on

the Meyers Parrot,
in the Okavango Delta

in Botswana.

And for three
months of the year,

they would disappear
from the woodlands

I was studying
out onto the water.

And I followed them there.

I was just like,
whoa, you know,

they have this
vast wetland,

and animals and
elephants everywhere.

And I lost myself
completely there.

[Mosaku] What began with
parrots became a lifelong

obsession to know and
protect Africa's rivers.

[Steve] We started the largest
scientific surveys ever

undertaken in
the Okavango basin.

We're now on a path
to the large-scale protection

of the sources
of the Okavango.

[Mosaku] But just as
things had gained momentum,

Steve's life was
turned upside down.

-In 2021, I was diagnosed
with colon cancer.

I thought I was gonna die,
and, and I came out of that,

and I was like,
what we gonna do?

We decided to do 200
expeditions over eight years,

and that's
what we're doing.

So we're talking
about exploring the

Orange in South Africa,

the Okavango,
the Zambezi,

the Congo, the Nile,
the Chad and the Niger.

-Let's go.

[Mosaku] It's an
extraordinary undertaking.

A full, detailed survey
of every major river basin.

Involving hundreds of African
researchers and scientists.

-Okay.

[Mosaku] Back on the Nile,
the survey continues.

-What we've seen
is bird life building up,

fish life building up,
biodiversity building up.

We've been marking parts
of the river that would

be viable for protection.

That could be, you
know, little islands

of biodiversity
along the river.

Beautiful, beautiful,
hey Emmanuel?

-Yeah, I'm very happy.

[Mosaku] The future
is far from certain.

With the more that
is understood about the

realities of today,
the better Africa can

be prepared for tomorrow.

-In 2050 in Africa,
I'm imagining Wakanda,

you know, a technologically
advanced Africa living

in prosperity with wildlife,
with biodiversity,

with functioning ecosystems.

And central to
that is our rivers.

[Mosaku] From rivers...

to mountains,

forests...

to deserts,

all of Africa's
ecosystems are made up

of millions of
different living parts,

all with a role to play.

-Everything is
connected, you know,

including the
human connection.

Humans play a crucial
role in keeping a balance.

-Some people may argue
that losing one species

is not much,

but losing a
single species from

the entire ecosystem
is already too much.

[Mosaku] In a healthy,
balanced ecosystem,

every species contributes.

But some are so crucial,

to lose them
could spell disaster.

-Vultures are very
important to our ecosystems,

because they serve
as nature's clean-up crew.

[Mosaku] Vultures are
keystone species,

an animal that plays a
critical role in an ecosystem.

By eating what
others can't stomach,

they reduce the spread
of disease and parasites.

[Washington] Because
of their lifestyle,

which involves
feeding on dead animals,

they often get a bad rap.

But for me
as a scientist

and for me as
a person who loves birds,

I think vultures
are amazing.

And I view beauty
beyond looks.

I view beauty from
a point of behavior.

[Mosaku] Yet almost
every population across

the continent has crashed.

-All the 11 species
of vultures in Africa

are in trouble.

It's a very
shocking situation.

And when things get
to a critical point,

we need to start
intervening directly.

[Mosaku] Bearded vulture
numbers across Southern Africa

have plummeted.

Habitat loss,
poisoning and other

threats have pushed the
population to the very brink.

-Regionally,
the bearded vulture is

now critically endangered.

The next classification
would be extinct.

The Bearded Vulture
Recovery Program is

a group of people from
two different countries

standing together to see
if we can save the species.

...one so quite close.

My name is
Shannon Hoffman.

My role in the Bearded
Vulture Recovery Program

is to manage the
breeding program,

to supplement the
wild population.

This season we're hoping
to harvest six eggs.

We've first got to
locate active territories.

-And there it is.

[Shannon] Bearded vultures
nest high up on cliff faces.

There are probably fewer
than 50 active breeding pairs.

Normally, a healthy pair
is laying two eggs,

of which only
one survives.

They are the only
vulture where the

first chick will
actually predate

on the second
one and k*ll it.

[Mosaku] The team decided,

rather than let
the second chick die,

they could use this
as an opportunity to

help save the species.

[Shannon] To take an
egg from a breeding pair,

it's quite an
aggressive interaction.

And considering how
incredibly vulnerable

they already are,
we have all stepped forward

with extreme caution.

The first single
egg I ever harvested,

I watched the female
soar above me, and I cried.

But if we don't
do this, they're gone.

Our job is to get in and get
out as quickly as possible.

Getting the eggs from
the nests is challenging.

We are using mountain
rescue climbers.

It's very time-pressured.

[Seoehla] We have
to get moving.

[indistinct conversation].

-We've come to the
edge of the cliff now.

So, this is
where the nest,

the bearded vulture nest,
is situated.

The climbers are finding
somewhere to descend down.

-Yeah, so harness
is good, locked.

Everything is working.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[Shannon] Okay, Gray,
copy that, go ahead.

[Seoehla] The last time
I was around this place,

there was a bird inside
the nest incubating.

[indistinct conversation]

-Just crossing our
fingers now to hear what,

what the climber
is going to tell us.

[Gray] Come on.

[Shannon] Everything is quiet.

[Seoehla] So I
can see the bird.

I'm just hoping that
these birds understand

that we are only
here to help them.

[Gray] Two eggs on the nest.

[Shannon] Awesome,
Gray, thanks very much.

[Gray] Uh, Shannon, one
of the eggs is chirping.

[Shannon] Please
can we go ahead and

harvest the second one?

[Gray] Copy that.

[Shannon] So he's
on the nest and, and the,

the first chick's
actually pipping.

[Mosaku] The first
egg is already hatching.

The team needs
to work quickly.

[indistinct whispering]

[Gray] Well done, guys.

I am coming back up.

Let's get out of here.

-Well done, man.

[Seoehla] Got it, that's it.

The bird can actually
go back to its nest.

[Mosaku] The spare
egg is rushed back to

the breeding center.

[Shannon] So I think that
one is almost ready to hatch.

[Mosaku] The team have
managed to collect six eggs

from nests across
South Africa and Lesotho.

[Shannon] Oh look, see!

[Seoehla] Yeah, I
can see it's moving.

It's moving so hard.

It's moving so hard.

[Shannon] Okay.

[chirping]

-Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

-It's coming!
-It's coming.

He is so close.

He is so close, and alive.

Oh my.

[Shannon] Crazy, hey.

The way you know what you
are is you look at what raises

you and what feeds
your face and you go,

oh must be one of those.

[Mosaku] To keep the
chicks' natural instincts,

they're raised without
seeing a human.

[Shannon] This puppet
looks a bit beaten because

she's done many chicks,
but um, we'll use this

to raise the babies
and feed them every day.

[Mosaku] Shannon has
already raised 21 chicks.

The hope is that as
they reach adulthood,

they'll have
chicks of their own.

It's these birds
that are destined to be

released into the wild.

[Shannon] So much of today's
world seems hopeless...

Whereas here we are
working together for

an outcome that is positive.

[Mosaku] It is often
the most iconic wildlife

that gains the most
conservation attention.

But across Africa
there are still thought

to be millions of species
waiting to be described.

-I think it's important
to document species because

we need to know
what's out there.

I know for the Gambia we
have not even identified

all of our fish species,

so we don't
even know what's there.

[Mosaku] As threats
to habitats increase,

we could lose species
before they're discovered.

This makes the work to
document unknown animals

and plants more
urgent than ever.

[speaking in native language]

-My name is Gimo Daniel.

I am a research
scientist and

National Geographic Explorer.

Mm, mwah, ciao.

-Ciao.

[attendant] Please ensure all
your small carry-on items

are safely stowed under
the seat in front of you.

-I love to explore
different and remote

areas to discover new species.

Especially dung beetles.

They are amazing.

To be honest,
dung beetles,

they run the world,
not human beings.

I'm planning an
expedition to a special

place called Mount Mabu.

[Mosaku] Mabu
is a Sky Island,

a mountain surrounded
by grassland,

isolated for millennia.

Home to an extraordinary
and unique old-growth forest.

Its isolation means it's
likely to harbor animals

and plants found
nowhere else on Earth.

But Mabu is under threat
from commercial logging

and clearance
for agriculture.

To help make the case
for protecting Mount Mabu,

Gimo is hoping his
expedition will lead

to the discovery
of new species.

[Gimo] This expedition is
to discover what we have

here in terms of species
not yet described to

science to motivate
to the government to

protect this forest, by law.

If we don't get
this forest protected,

there's a lot of companies
looking to chop down the trees.

Finally, the
peak of Mount Mabu.

The idea is to turn
Mount Mabu into a community

conservation area.

[Mosaku] This would
mean no logging or

mining is allowed.

But local people would
still be able to use

the forest sustainably,
and they would be the ones

to manage it.

[Gimo] I grew up in
central Mozambique

in a small village.

But the area is
surrounded by poverty,

and we didn't have
a toilet and stuff.

We used to poo
in the bush.

I remember watching this
green dung beetle rolling

the poo, right.

So, I was fascinated
by the behavior,

and I used to collect
them and put them in a

small box of matches.

Mama, she told me,
I must not do that.

But then I carried
on watching beetles,

I carried on
collecting stuff without

her permission.

I'm the first Mozambican
with a PhD in entomology.

I think if my
mother were alive,

she would be proud of me.

I think this
will be a good spot.

I'm setting up a trap to
collect dung beetles now.

We need to make it
as neat as possible,

as dung beetles
are quite fussy.

Here we have the bait,

which is
basically human poo.

Please don't come to my
tent asking for a spoon.

Otherwise, I'm
gonna give it to you.

[laughing]

We wait for two days,
and then we come in

and collect
and see what we get.

We have been
collecting a lot of stuff.

Our trip was
very successful.

We have several
species of dung beetle.

These ones here, I
normally call them big boys.

It's a common species.

It's a beautiful,
metallic color.

Got these two roundish
beetles, very tiny.

I can't believe it, let
me double-check before

I say something wrong here.

This is brand
new to science.

I think it's brand new.

Can't believe it.

That's cool.

I would like to name
it after this forest.

So it's going to be
Yancisantis Mabuentis.

There's a lot of
interesting stuff.

Yeah, I'm just seeing
these beetles.

Long horns.

Wow, I think this is also
brand new to science.

This species looks
like it's full-bodied, dark,

it's black,
with the long horn.

It's a beautiful thing.

Most likely, I will
name after my son.

It will be
Onthophagus sekai.

[Gimo] Sekai...

We found potentially
a new animal

that will be
named after you, my son.

The name will be Onthophagus
sekai. How about that?

[Mosaku] Remarkable
discoveries like these

could change everything
in the race to get legal

protection for
this unique forest.

Africa is home
to some of the planet's most

famous national parks,

the Maasai Mara,

the Serengeti,

and Kruger.

But 80% of wildlife
across Sub-Saharan Africa

lives outside of
government-protected areas.

If Africa is to maintain
its rich biodiversity,

people and wildlife
have to coexist.

That requires a
different way of thinking.

-Our history in Africa
with protected areas

is very fraught.

People were kicked
off of their lands and

they were removed
from areas that were once

their ancestral spaces.

But that is not the
conservation of today.

[Mosaku] There is a
growing movement to create

Community Conservancies,
places outside of

National Parks where
people and wildlife live

side by side, in
ways that benefit both.

-Communities
Conservancies are creating

a really bright future
for wildlife, for people,

and bringing back biodiversity
across the continent.

-The future of
endangered species depend

on the communities.

They're the ones
who share resources and

space with wildlife.

[Mosaku] In 2016, one
trailblazing community

living on land outside the
Maasai Mara National Reserve,

decided to start
their own conservancy,

with remarkable results.

-My name is
Nelson Ole Reiyia.

I'm the co-founder of
Nashulai Maasai Conservancy.

The first Maasai-led
conservancy in Kenya.

It's a story of a
community rising

up to a challenge.

Nashulai the whole
meaning is to create balance

and harmony between
people, wildlife,

and their livestock.

Before the conservancy
was created,

we didn't have much
wildlife on this land.

Most of this was barren.

There was barely
any grass cover

because of overgrazing.

There were long
lines of fences.

But we have
seen an amazing, uh,

regeneration of the ecosystem.

It's uh almost like
a conservation miracle.

[Nelson] The Maasai
are cattle people.

In the past, we engaged
in nomadic pastoralism.

This rotational migration
ensured that the land

was not overgrazed.

That's how they were
able to live sustainably

with the environment.

In today's Kenya,
land has been subdivided.

We no longer have
communal lands.

Each family
owns a piece of land,

and therefore
they are not able

to maintain
that circular,

nomadic pastoralist lifestyle.

And it keeps wildlife
from moving through

the land like
they have always done.

That was one of the things
that pushed the community

to save their
precious wildlife,

because wildlife is very
important in the Maasai culture.

We were very
clear that we wanted to

create a unique model that
will not exclude people

from the land.

The first thing
we agreed was to break

down the fences.

It was our Berlin Wall
moment for us in Nashulai.

The recovery of the
Nashulai was gradual.

The grass cover
was sprouting,

and then we started seeing
the return of wildlife.

[♪ peaceful music playing]

It seemed the wildlife
was voting with their own feet.

Basically, the
ecosystem recovered.

It just needed to be
given time to breathe again,

and thankfully,
because of the community,

that happened.

We are observing
a family of elephants,

where a baby was born about

two days,
three days ago.

I feel immensely happy,
so peaceful and so satisfied

to see these
elephants coming back.

[Mosaku] The Maasai in
this community have shown

the world what is possible,

a future of coexistence.

[Nelson] For me, it's
a dream come true to

see with
my own eyes nature

reclaiming and regenerating.

Ultimately, it's our hope
that more and more space can

be reclaimed

and those spaces
can be put into

conservation in the
hands of communities.

[Mosaku] There
are now around


across Kenya.

And this community-led
movement continues

to grow in Namibia,
Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

-The future of
conservation is local

and in local hands.

This continent has so
many lessons to offer.

-Although we still have
many challenges,

we have a big
network of people,

young and older,

bringing changes and benefits
for wildlife and people.

And that keeps me
very, very inspired.

-There is
now the African touch,

or the African flavor.

In Nigeria we say vibe.

There's an African
vibe to it.

And that's good.

[Koketso] We need both
science and traditional

knowledge to merge.

So it's extremely important
that we open our minds.

But there's
a lot of work to do,

and we don't have
the luxury of time.

Time's ticking.

-Let's work together.

Both from the
modern world to the

traditional communities.

And let's learn
from each other.

-For the
Africans watching this,

keep the hope,
keep the faith.

We are making
a positive change,

and we are doing it.

We're kicking,
can I curse?

[producer speaks indistinctly]

We're kicking a*s.

[♪ music playing
through credits]