Women in Conservation 2021

We are sincerely grateful to all the participants who engaged in the master’s thesis project Women in Conservation, Narratives of Care, Place and Practice in the Lowveld Region, South Africa. Their collective experiences, stories and photographs inspired and helped us to pilot this research project.

© <Dr. Lucy Kemp> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
A huge surge of sub-conscious delight and chancing across a small portion of Limpopo not fenced. Where people and animals can move unrestricted.  I wish for a bright young mind to come up with an alternative that is gentler on the eye, the soul and our migrations.
© <Dr. Michelle Henley> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
Incredible multi-tasking women. The Black Mambas. From camouflage uniform to glamour; whatever the job demands.
© <Dr. Michelle Henley> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
The Black Mambas anti-poaching unit. The power of emancipated women to protect wildlife.
© <Dr. Michelle Henley> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
The guarding, protecting nature of females, whether it’s elephant or human societies. Our natural nurturing role models.
© <Dr. Michelle Henley> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
Networking in the community, using elephants as a unifying force. 
© <Kath Forssman> <2015> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
One of my favourite jobs during buffalo capture was measuring the male’s testicle circumference. Perhaps it gave me a weird sense of power over the masculine. this was the last time I was able to lean on the buffalo like that […] because I was 7 months pregnant and things were starting to get uncomfortable. My entire identity changed once my daughter was born.
© <Kath Forssman> <2015> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
…going to a place like this, and appreciating a sunset like this, I think is so important
because it reconnects you to the ‘why’. It reconnects you to the reason why you’re there, and why you’re
doing what you’re doing. […] To be able to feel that space, and that freedom.
© <Patience Shito> <2019> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Patience Shito> <2019> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
Breaking barriers by successfully accomplishing tasks that are not considered ‘women’s work’.
© <Jenny Newenham> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Leonie Hofstra> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Leonie Hofstra> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Leonie Hofstra, on behalf of Valeria van der Westhuizen> <2020> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Navashni Govender> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Navashni Govender> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Mapula Mokwele> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Charlene van der Berg> <2020> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
I was explaining to [the anti-poaching unit] the importance of formation and marching drill is to look like one unit and in sync with one another.
© <Charlene van der Berg> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Dr. Lucy Kemp> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Dr. Lucy Kemp> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Nthabiseng Monama> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Nthabiseng Monama> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.
© <Dr. Lucy Kemp> <2021> | Women in Conservation project | Lowveld, South Africa.