Electric cars and boats allow elephants to get close 4:08
(CNN Spanish) --
Wildlife lovers come from far away countries to the Chobe National Park, in Botwsana, to enjoy a true terrestrial paradise: there is the largest population of elephants in all of Africa, accompanied by a long list of animals that also includes lions, leopards, zebras and hippos.
The Chobe Game Lodge, the only permanent lodge located within the park boundaries, has had a fleet of electric vehicles since 2014.
They abandoned diesel in favor of solar energy and have managed to save about 28 tons of carbon emissions and some 9,500 liters of fuel, according to the company.
"All the electricity used to power the boats and vehicles is generated from our own solar panels. Even when we are sailing our boats are recharged by the sun," Bainame Maome, the lodge's safari guide, told CNN.
The vehicles are charged with solar energy, which allowed us to cut our dependence on fuel.
The objective in changing the fleet was the best preservation of the environment.
On the one hand, they contribute to reducing emissions from transport —an activity that is responsible for just over 15% of total emissions globally, according to Our World in Data—, and on the other hand, they minimize noise pollution, which is especially sensitive in a park-like space.
"We can hear the noise of other boats. Those that run on diesel or gasoline make a lot of noise and ours are much quieter," explained Tshepiso Vivan Diphupu, an environmentalist at the accommodation.
This makes them better for manoeuvring, especially when the elephants are swimming across the shoreline.
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A "magical experience"
And it turned out that, while improving their environmental performance, they also achieved a superior experience for the tourists who visit them.
"It is a magical experience because the electric boats are much quieter: you can hear the birds, and the animals. For bird watchers it is a very special moment. And you can very easily get up close to potentially dangerous animals such as elephants and hippos without disturbing them," Maome told CNN.
(The park, by the way, is home to more than 450 species of birds.)
Electric vehicles have the advantage of being quieter than those that run on diesel, which is key for animal sighting.
The aquatic displacements are important in the Chobe, since the park stands out for the concentration of animals on the banks of the river of the same name.
This factor, in turn, means that the best time to visit is from May to October, which is the dry season, because it is when the animals gather near this water source.
The Chobe Game Lodge also has other strategies in place to minimize its environmental footprint, such as waste recycling and a brick-making initiative that incorporates waste such as glass and is then used to make buildings for people in need.
a deliberate strategy
This is not an isolated action in the Chobe park, located on the northern border with Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Botswana launched a national ecotourism strategy in 2002 with the aim of conserving national resources, the then Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshedidi Khama, explained to CNN in 2016.
Conservation began in the Okavango Delta, often referred to by locals as the "Jewel of the Kalahari," one of the largest inland deltas in the world.
"We have made a deliberate decision to grow tourism in this country and to be imaginative in how we do it," Khama said.
(Credit: Chris Jek/AFP/Getty Images)
And it is that receiving visitors is a great business for this country.
Although the dominant economic activity continues to be the extraction of minerals, mainly diamonds, the tourism industry is a sector that is growing thanks to natural treasures and, precisely, to its conservation practices.
Today it is already the second most important economic activity for this country of about 3.2 million inhabitants.
"Ultimately, it's about conserving what we have. Taking care of our environment, making sure that we take care of our flora and fauna," Vivan summed up.
"This is the most important".
With reporting by Olivia Yasukawa, Katie Pisa, Rosie Tomkins Erin Conway-Smith, and Angela Reyes Haczek.
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