Water is life and our Green Mambas have been working hard to provide water for their families! Read about our ‘upcycled’ water tank program in our latest blog below, and how the Green Mamba’s were able to improve their water security at home through their hard-earned work in ecosystem restoration at Wild Tomorrow’s Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve.

Our Community Conservation Manager, Aphiwe (third from the left) with Ntokozo (second from the left) and her family. Ntokozo is part of our Green Mamba team and has helped improve access to water for her whole family.

Water is life, but reliable access to water is a significant challenge in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Many of the Green Mambas, our ecosystem restoration team, don’t have a reliable water supply at home and as a result, often spend hours after work in the evening collecting water from the community dam. That’s why we launched a water security initiative for our Green Mamba ecosystem restoration team, utilizing JoJo water tanks acquired with the purchase of Sisonke.

Last year, Wild Tomorrow expanded the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve with the acquisition of Sisonke Farm. On the property were several large water tanks leftover from cattle farming and nyala ranching. We knew these would be perfect for the Green Mambas’ community homes, where they are in many cases the sole breadwinners for their extended families.

Before the water tanks, many of the Green Mambas needed to collect water from a nearby dam on days the municipality water supply isn’t working (which is very often!). One of the team told us she had to take 8 trips to the dam in an evening to fill up 20-liter bottles.

Ntokozo told us “Often I would get home from work, and take 20l buckets to the dam, taking about 8 round trips to fill up a small 150l container. Sometimes I would fill water till 8pm at night to ensure we have water the next day.”

So far, we have installed JoJo tanks at 3 of the Green Mambas’ homes. Each of the ladies contributed a portion of their hard-earned salary towards the water tank installations, and our rangers helped move and deliver the tanks from the reserve to their homes in the community. A local community builder was then employed to construct the stand for the tank and guttering. We will install six additional tanks once more of the Green Mambas have completed construction or maintenance work on their homes.

“With the rains coming, my JoJo water tank has overflowed which has been a great thing since I now have water next to my house and I don’t have to fetch water at the dam after work. Before when I didn’t always have water, I would come to work without my lunchbox because I was unable to cook. Having the Jojo tank has really helped me.” - Ntokozo.

The Green Mambas, by saving a portion of their salary to invest in the installation of JoJo water tanks at home, are strengthening both their family’s well-being and their ability to continue their vital work in protecting the wild spaces we all cherish. We look forward to installing the remaining tanks and continuing our commitment to both community and conservation.

JOJO TANKS FOR THE GREEN MAMBAS