Impisi - Benson Kanyembo
Benson Kanyembo: Law enforcement advisor for Conservation South Luangwa, Zambia; 2019 Tusk Ranger of the Year; 2020 African Ranger Award winner; nominated for Best Game Ranger in the 2020 Rhino Conservation Awards; Game Ranger Association of Africa (GRAA) Zambian Chapter Chairman and Southern Africa Region representative.
A wildlife champion: As a law enforcement officer, Benson has devoted thirty years of his life to protecting Zambia’s wildlife. He supervises 110 rangers working in the South Luangwa Valley, Zambia an 14,000 square kilometers (5400 square miles big), who go out for days at a time on patrols and put their lives at risk to stop poachers. He has trained 1000 rangers in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe and has arrested 1000+ poachers to date!
That spark: “When I was a child around 10 years old, my father retired from the police department and we moved to a new village. I saw a lot of poaching there. A lot of elephants and rhinos were being killed and transported. I was concerned, I didn’t think this was right and I asked my dad, what is happening? what is this about? And that's how I developed my interest in wildlife conservation. I said, one day, I’m going to stand up and do something. And here I am today as a law enforcement advisor because of what I saw when I was growing up.”
His career path: “I started giving information to the North Luangwa conservation project coordinators from 1988 when I was a kid. There was a lot of poaching going on where I was living and I innocently gave them information about the poaching I was seeing. I didn’t know that was actually helping them do their job. When I was done with school in 1994, I was offered employment as a porter. And that's how I started my career. From there I was promoted to a radio operator, a village scout, a community scout, a wildlife police officer and eventually to where I am today. It all started by giving information to the people who were protecting the ecosystem.”
His name - Impisi (hyena in isiZulu a nod to us here in South Africa, learn about the 70+! languages spoken in Zambia) “A lot of people rush to see elephants or leopards but don’t pay attention to hyenas and vultures. But if you look at the ecosystem, it’s healthier because of them. Hyenas and the vultures clean up the environment. They eat rotting animals and if they were not around there would be a lot of diseases, anthrax and others. The hyena is there to make sure that everything is clean. That's why men and nature thrive because of the job hyenas and vultures do. I think we should put them on top, not just the elephant.
So like the hyena, I’m here to rope up all the poachers that want to destroy mother nature. I’m here to make sure we get rid of them. “
What do you need to get here (his ranking): Hard work, communication, creativity and curiosity.
“I came from a nice background, my dad had everything. What I went through to get to where I am was so hard and so tough. Other people would have given up, but I didn’t care about that, all I wanted to do was help mother nature. So hard work and having a vision looking into the future to know that, what i'm protecting is not just for me it is for everyone in the world. And the benefits doesn't just come to me, it comes to everyone. So it was working hard, protect these things for everyone of us in our community”
What else do you need? “Physical and mental fitness. There are a lot of bad things and if you just look at the negativity you won’t be here. There are animals and poachers that want to kill me you need the mental and physical fitness to see a positive future.”
His Top Tip: Be a like a long-nosed truck driver, looking down the road into the future to miss the potholes in life.
“There are two types of trucks, there's a front-faced truck and a long-nosed truck. You need to be like a long nose truck driver who is driving on a road filled with potholes but he has a destination. He’s looking into the future to avoid the potholes. The person driving the front-faced truck is just looking immediately ahead of them looking for fast money. You lose focus, fast.
I was a porter but I knew one day I’d be somebody, but I didn’t rush into it, I was doing it step by step and here I am 30 years later.”
Why is it important to protect wildlife when there are pressing needs for people? “I believe we are all in the same ecosystem, it's a circle. We depend on one another, so, whatever we do against mother nature, it will come back to us in one way or another. Look at climate change, you and me were not there when our forefathers did what they did to mother nature, but we are suffering the consequences. So whatever is in that life circle, should be respected and be protected. We use it sustainably. That's what I believe in. And then if they are not important, why did God create them? He did not say destroy them, he said go and look over them. That means we protect them and we use them wisely. In order for us to continue surviving here on earth, we need the trees, we need all these things, that's why we are in this universe together.
His Heroes:
My mother, the African Woman. She is beyond comparison, strong, resilient, full of grace and beautiful. It was my mother who instilled all the discipline in me to make me who I am today. I give you the credit mom.
Rangers. Rangers throughout the world are not really recognized like soldiers, policemen and other people. But if you look at the work that the ranger does, he's more than a ranger, he’s a teacher, a maintenance man, he’s a porter. He has got a lot of things that he does in his work and very few people appreciate it. There's so many things and is not recognized and is not awarded for what he's doing. And he is not complaining. I am now like a voice and I need to speak on behalf of the rangers. They are poorly paid and harshly treated, but we respect them for what they are doing, protecting mother nature, and everyone is benefiting.
Nelson Mandela. He believed in giving people a second chance. He believed in saying we are all human beings, regardless of color. He did not side with one color. If he was a different leader, South Africa would be at total war. He set a good example to forgive each other and move on. I told my children that there are people that God brought here for a purpose. He was brought here for a purpose to say - you guys, we need just to be together as one. We are all one, there's no difference, Black, White, Indian, whatever, we are all the same, we are all people. It's just like, when you put water in a bottle. That water turns the colour of the bottle, but when you pour it out it’s the same water.
Marcus Garvey - A visionary pan-African leader and thinker.
Martin Luther King – the religious and political leader who changed the course of life for all African Americans.
Shaka Zulu - A Zulu king and military genius.
Haile Selassie - The last emperor of Ethiopia
Bob Marley – the Jamaican reggae musician.
Kenneth Kaunda - Former president of Zambia
Dedan Kimathi (Mau Mau) Kenyan political leader who led the fight for independence from Britain.
What are you most proud of? “There are so many things, but I never knew that as I’m working that others were watching and one day I would go to London and meet Prince William and receive the Tusker Ranger of the Year Award. It was never in my dreams. I was just doing my work and i'm still just doing my work for the sake of doing what I think is the best and most important for humans.
If I protect an elephant for 70 years, people will be coming to take pictures, they bring money and a lot of people will benefit. Not just Zambians. The people that are selling tickets, the people that are talking about Africa, they are all making money out of this one elephant that I’m protecting. The people that are working in the lodges, the rangers, the whole community, the whole world benefiting from that one elephant that I’m protecting. and it will be on earth for 70 years.
So I believe that is my biggest achievement making sure that we protect these natural resources. We will all gain in so many ways.”
Adventures in the bush: “My worst story that still gives me nightmares, is crossing the Luangwa River, one of the most crocodile infested rivers in Africa, eleven times. I have swum across that river, neck deep, with my bag on my head, my gun above my head. You cross, do your work and come back again. So sometimes when I'm sleeping I have this nightmare and I wake up sweating, and say, what was i thinking? what was i doing? More than 500 meters across and it's crocodile infected but that's how I lead people, to show it can be done. If I didn’t do that, all the officers would say I can’t do that. But because I do my leadership by leading by example, it has set a good example on the guys that can be done and it's possible.
Learn more about Benson, the work of wildlife ranges, and South Luangwa
https://www.instagram.com/bensonkanyembo/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT3cEMu64yU&ab_channel=TheRhinoManPodcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bn4VNhtB6k&ab_channel=Tusk