Sabi Sabi. It’s a name that has become synonymous with the ultimate in private game lodges. But in reality Sabi Sabi is much more than a luxury leisure destination.
Since its establishment in 1980 Sabi Sabi has led the field in forward-thinking conservation programmes, protecting and enhancing the environment and communities in which it operates.
Sabi Sabi has invested millions of rands over the years to implement environmental systems, training programmes and local community initiatives. As a member of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, Sabi Sabi subscribes to its stringent environmental and conservation ethics, ensuring there is a legacy for local communities into the future. It is this philosophy that has helped Sabi Sabi to net the prestigious Fair Trade in Tourism Trademark.
Its conservation philosophy is based on two principles. The first is the need to conserve rapidly dwindling areas and to provide a sanctuary for fauna and flora as part of South Africa’s heritage. The second is the belief that the business must be a true example of ecotourism, effectively linking tourism with conservation and the community.
Sabi Sabi’s environmental management system is an holistic one, where the ecological needs are balanced with the needs of people and their communities — focusing on the interdependence of tourism, conservation and the local people.
Each member of the Sabi Sabi team receives ongoing training in all areas of business, empowering them and improving their skills; and each has a thorough understanding that an individual’s performance reflects and is dependant on the performance of other members of the team.
In the rural subsistence areas surrounding the reserve, the ratio of breadwinner to dependant is more than one to 10. The more than 170 local employees at Sabi Sabi support about 1 700 dependants.
These people are directly or indirectly dependant for their livelihood on the success of the Sabi Sabi product, which defines ecotourism as the interdependence of tourism, conservation and local community, thereby ensuring the optimum tangible benefit to each of the above.
The phrase ‘local community” is an umbrella one that covers all of the staff at Sabi Sabi and the neighbouring communities where they reside. The empowerment of all staff through training and development is a key policy.
In conservation terms Sabi Sabi also has a strong philosophy that there can be no conservation effort without funds earned from tourism and, similarly, that without an effective conservation programme there would be no tourism product to market.
Sabi Sabi’s primary objective is to maintain and improve its species and habitat diversity, which will attract more visitors while minimising detrimental impact on the environment.
Historically speaking, the reserve has enjoyed wide respect for its habitat rehabilitation. It has achieved this fine balance more than adequately and is recognised worldwide as being at the forefront of ecotourism.
Veld/habitat management programmes based on the seep-line ecology concept include a diverse number of activities:
– Clearing of encroached seep-lines;
– Combating of donga erosion;
– Effective road planning and maintenance;
– Waterhole management; and
– Alien plant eradication.
Conservation is ultimately people-oriented and education is a crucial part of any conservation programme. With this in mind, all Sabi Sabi employees undergo training on an ongoing basis, to ensure they are totally in tune with and committed to the ecology and conservation needs of their environment.
Education does not stop there, however. Seeds of environmental awareness need to be planted in both young and old, of all races and from all walks of life. Sabi Sabi has undertaken to train young people and, in particular, their teachers from neighbouring rural communities to develop and foster an understanding of the need for conservation. This programme includes issues such as poaching, water conservation and tourism.
Guests at Sabi Sabi are also influenced by the conservation ethic as they experience the natural beauty of their surroundings and listen to rangers and trackers — who not only encourage them to enjoy and truly observe the unspoiled wilderness, but also help them understand the threats facing our vulnerable environment.
Sabi Sabi’s commitment to local community/social ecology involvement extends beyond the boundaries of its core business, with the reserve making a number of commitments through ongoing programmes.
Among these is the ‘Teach the Teachers” programme, which focuses on youth leaders, civil associations and schoolteachers being hosted on visits to Sabi Sabi.
The ranger training camp is used as a venue for ecotourism awareness programmes (eight to 10 people at a time) over two or three days on a complimentary basis.
Courses cover ecotourism and actively debate the perceptions neighbouring communities have of game lodges and game reserves.
In addition, participants are exposed to career opportunities in ecotourism and small, medium and microenterprise opportunities that are linked to game reserves and the lodge industry — such as laundry, workshops, bakeries and vegetable gardens.
Environmental concerns that pertain to both game lodges and communities, such as water, fuel management and health issues are also covered.
The programme has been running for the past six years and has given the leadership within the neighbouring community an insight into the game lodge industry, the role it plays as a provider of jobs and the opportunities it provides as an economic player in the area.
Local farming initiatives include the support of Caiphas Mdluli, a Huntington pig farmer. Mdluli started out with four pigs and now has a thriving piggery that supplies the local community.
In 1995 Sabi Sabi initiated a vegetable-growing project with a member of the local Belfast community. In conjunction with Dr Sue Hart of Ecolink, Sabi Sabi provided the material to establish the project.
Ecolink provided the training on agricultural techniques. Vegetables, including tomatoes and spinach, are grown and purchased from the local community.
The reserve has also initiated a project with the local Lillydale community to establish a centre for the youth in the area.
The project began in March 1999 when Solly Themba, a social ecologist in the Kruger National Park, approached Sabi Sabi with a proposal to establish an environmental education centre in a disused library that had been donated by MV Ngomane to the people of Lillydale.
Sabi Sabi research and development officer Rael Loon and the Lillydale community leadership jointly decided to renovate the building; install recreational activities for children (such as a jungle gym and television); supply water and electricity; provide computers; plant an indigenous tree garden; stock a library; use the centre for a broad range of courses including enviro-education, travel and tourism, business skills; and promote the local Shangaan culture. In addition, a traditional medicine garden was established.
To date Sabi Sabi has funded the project and is continuing to jointly coordinate it with the community leadership. This dynamic endeavour has been driven by local community members and has attracted attention from organisations such as the American Express Foundation’s travel and tourism leadership programme.
In 1996 the American Express Foundation, in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Education, set up a pilot project aimed at introducing tourism as a subject in grades 10, 11 and 12. Sabi Sabi was a partner, and along with nine other travel industry players including Southern Sun, South African Airways and Avis, is fulfilling the ecotourism role in the syllabus. This pilot project (over three years) resulted in tourism being included as a subject in all schools nationally.
Furthermore, over the past 18 years Sabi Sabi has been involved in supporting the We Care Foundation. Groups of underprivileged children have been hosted by Sabi Sabi on a visit to the tented training camp for a weekend.