Extraordinary Women Hidden From History - Wild Basil Podcast Ep 3

AllAfrica has launched an eight-part podcast series, Wild Basil, featuring remarkable women who contributed to peace and development through their innovative work on biodiversity and conservation and addresses the competition for scarce resources in Southern Africa, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, and South Africa. Above all, their work contributes to conflict prevention and resolution in their communities and their countries.
[AllAfrica's elevation of the voices of African peacebuilders is supported by funding from the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York.]

Have you noticed that podcasts relating stories of amazing achievements are almost always about men?

The Wild Basil podcasts are helping to fill this chasm by bringing you the stories of extraordinary women who have been hidden from history. Listen carefully and you will hear how they have struggled against colonial rule and apartheid in Southern Africa. Listen and you will marvel at how they have overcome many obstacles and transformed the landscape of conservation and biodiversity in their countries.

The Wild Basil podcasts begin in the 1970s with Mozambique's struggle for independence against Portuguese colonialism and take us to the pristine region of Niassa that borders on Tanzania and Malawi, and then further south into the Chimanimani national park on the border with Zimbabwe. From there we travel with our heroes into Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and end our journey back in Niassa.

Here we learn how in the past 15 years, the devastation of widespread illegal poaching has been undermining the development of the park and how this was stopped. You will also discover how amazingly teddy bears and laughter might have made more inroads than many other community-based interventions on cohabitation. 

Episode 3 introduces Moreangels Mbizah, a scientist whose work began with studying carnivores. As a child growing up in a small town, Moreangels developed a love for the bush but she learned little about the abundance of wildlife surrounding her. While at university she learned about wildlife and conservation for the first time. She was hooked. Her PhD thesis focused on the study of lion behaviour. Moreangels established an NGO - Wildlife Conservation Action - whose mission is to protect wildlife, empower communities, and promote climate-smart practices. In this episode, Moreangels expresses her commitment to educating youth and the challenges confronting women working in a male-oriented scientific world.

Episode 2 introduces Milagre Nuvunga. After Mozambique's independence in 1975, Milagre joined the generation of young people assigned to various aspects of national reconstruction. And so her career as a forester began, giving her the opportunity to begin her lifelong commitment to protecting forests, the people living in them, as well as the livelihoods that are dependent upon them.

Episode 1 of Wild Basil introduces AnaBela Rodriques, a Mozambican economist who accepted the challenge of managing and developing the newly created nature reservation in the remote province of Niassa soon after independence...