In 2019 a few friends came together with the idea to bring conservationists, researchers, and the greater Hoedspruit community together through free talks to share the exciting work that is being done in the area and to connect with the people behind the scenes. “Our first talk was held at The Thirsty Giraffe Pub & Grill, and not knowing what to expect, we reckoned that anything over twenty people would be an achievement.
We couldn’t have underestimated the success of this more, we had over 70 people,” said John Davies, one of the founders. “Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength, and these talks have become one of the highlights of the month in Hoedspruit. It has generated an amazing following that sees people from all walks of life come together in one place,” he said. The topics of the talks are diverse, ranging from elephants, butterflies, vultures, mongoose, and owls. “We even hosted nuanced talks such as the sound in nature, which delved into the fascinating world of acoustics.”
Also read: Friends start club for nature conservation research talks in Hoedies
He said the time has come to relaunch the talks under the banner of ‘Nature on Tap’. “Although we started small, this has by no means limited our ambition, and our goal is to take what we’ve seen working in Hoedspruit and re-create it on a much bigger scale through South Africa and beyond, creating the ‘parkrun’ of conservation.” According to him, Nature on Tap will be based on three main pillars; free and accessible sharing of environmental information; creating a community around conservation; and generating funding to assist people who are making a difference.
“Firstly, we’ve always wanted to keep these talks free and open, getting as many people as possible together, and not allowing cost to be a dissuasive element in limiting who can attend,” he said. “Secondly, we’ve had numerous people approach us and say how they’ve met other like-minded individuals through this. “Lastly, we want to generate funding through voluntary donations, with the assistance of the Scales Conservation Fund, a registered NPO, who has offered to come on board as a project partner and allow us to support those who support nature,” he added.
Also read: Future of vultures in the spotlight
“Conservation is in a difficult position, being heavily under-capacitated, and with people in the field already being pushed to the extremes, often leading to many leaving for greener pastures and taking all their experience with them. By supporting these people, we can have a positive and lasting impact, keeping more people in conservation, and creating a network of people who are all changing the world in their own positive way,” concluded Davies. If you would like to support their work, call Davies at 076 527 9632.
