A riveting, eight-part documentary podcast, featuring South Africa’s Wild Bird Trust founder and zoologist, Dr. Steve Boyes, entitled Guardians of the River has won a Jackson Wild Award in the Podcast Category, after recently winning Best Narrative Nonfiction Podcast Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The submissions included over 750 entries from more than 30 countries. The podcast is narrated by the ever-enthusiastic Cat Jaffee from House of Pod who leads listeners through some of the most unexplored regions of Angola and Botswana along the Okavango River as she unpacks the science and intricacies behind the geopolitics.
Angolan biologist and host of the podcast, Kerllen Costa, brings to life the many characters the team meets along this intimate journey that begins in the heart of Angola’s most remote and landmined areas. The story follows Dr. Steve Boyes, as he leads a team of scientists and conservationists assembled from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Each episode unpacks the intrinsic connection humans have to the river and wildlife and how to go about protecting it, as a lesson to current and future conservationists in the audience. Many tribes in Botswana are still reeling from conservation mistakes of the past. Laws preventing people from freely accessing the river and the animals for basic survival have resulted in generational poverty. Today, many still don’t benefit from the mass tourism sector that has put Botswana and the Okavango Delta on the map.
“We have the chance to make things right for the people of Angola, so that everyone benefits from tourism, conservation, and development in that region. It’s important to protect the water and the wildlife but we need to draw on the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the local people to ensure it’s done respectfully and proportionally.” Says Dr. Steve Boyes, founder of the Wild Bird Trust.
It’s this approach that makes Guardians of the River incredibly unique and fascinating to listen to. It brings to life the sights and sounds of the Okavango, its animals and people and gives local tribes the chance to finally be heard and participate in one of the world’s most important conservation initiatives.
To listen to how the story unfolds, and what plans Koki has to empower the people of Botswana so Angola can learn from its mistakes, please listen to Guardians of the River by visiting https://www.wildbirdtrust.com/guardians-of-the-river
