Harnessing Chinese Livestreaming for Environmental Awareness
As platforms such as Douyin usher in a new paradigm in digital content creation, Beijing-headquartered Create Consulting has partnered with African destination Camp Jabulani and Live the Journey destination company to educate Chinese travellers on the importance of wildlife conservation. “Into the World of Elephants” brought together a broad spectrum of Chinese lifestyle and tourism decision-makers on September 8th 2020 via Chinese livestreaming platform Xiao Etong, as part of an effort to engage the industry around travelling in the post-COVID world.
Amy Cheng, trade relations manager at Create Consulting, interacted with a flurry of questions and comments from interested industry personnel across China’s first-, second- and third-tier cities. The training session covered destinations across southern Africa, including Camp Jabulani and Live the Journey’s comprehensive Namibian experiences. As the livestream was nearing its end, the viewer log showed 152 participants from Create Consulting’s tailored database of leading Chinese industry decision-makers. As the COVID-19 pandemic nears its one-year mark since the first cases were recorded, the influence on the southern African tourism industry has been severe. Since the tourism industry plays a significant role in promoting conservation and wildlife protection, Create Consulting joined efforts with regional stakeholders in Africa and China to support the industry.
Camp Jabulani: a regional conservation bastion
Since May this year, many African countries have reported several instances of mysterious elephant deaths. According to local environmental protection personnel in Botswana, more than 360 elephants have died without known cause just within the last few months. Zimbabwe also recently reported discovering the remains of 22 African elephants, as unexplained cases continue to add up and environmentally aware citizens around the world take notice. Experts have made significant efforts to get to the bottom of these tragic cases, but to date their efforts have delivered little or no results. Many suspect these elephants died from poisoning or even from COVID-19, but as it is well known in Africa, poaching carries much of the blame for declining elephant populations.
It’s no secret that elephants have an extraordinarily powerful memory, as the expression goes “an elephant never forgets”. Their super-memory helps them to navigate through the African wilderness, but it is as much a curse as it is a blessing. In a world where elephants are hunted down by poachers in large numbers, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among elephants is on the rise. Chinese audiences were confronted with this phenomenon on popular reality show Qi Yu Ren Sheng (奇遇人生, “Adventure Life”), when television host Dee Hsu travelled to Africa for an elephant safari. Hsu was struck particularly by a young elephant whose mother had been killed by poachers, and who showed textbook symptoms of PTSD such as having nightmares about losing his mother.
As elephant numbers continue their downward trajectory at the hands of poachers, protecting elephants becomes more urgent by the day. However, for those at the front lines of the battle against poaching, it’s a dangerous job. Wayne Lotter, a true conservation hero who protected thousands of elephants and sent nearly 2,000 poachers to prison, was murdered by the very criminals coordinating these poaching efforts. Continuing his and other conservationists’ legacy, African luxury camp Jabulani has been committed to protecting elephants since 2002. Named after Jabulani, the orphaned baby elephant that the camp’s founders helped to find a new herd, Camp Jabulani is a destination that balances the luxury of travel with responsibility to African wildlife.
Camp Jabulani has become a platform for educating visitors from all over the world about the importance of wildlife protection, while also providing owner Adine Roode the means to continue her passion for conservation. Camp Jabulani hosts South Africa’s first dedicated elephant orphanage, the HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development Centre), established in 2019. The HERD forms part of the Camp Jabulani experience, where guests can experience elephant safaris, specialty food, wine tasting, and much more.
