EP16 Samir Randera-Rees | Water Wars & Poverty Traps

In this episode Olivia Taylor speaks to Samir Randera-Rees about the importance of intergenerational storytelling, Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs), poverty traps & environmental degradation, building stakeholder trust, understanding & respecting community needs & their solutions, and so much more!

Samir is the programme manager for Water Source Areas at WWF-SA and has a Masters in Conservation Ecology, and a Conservation Leadership MBA from the African Leadership University. He is the Founder and CEO of Whispers of the Wild and a former presenter on 50|50. Samir and the WWF team have helped to make the Water Source Areas one of the country’s highest conservation priorities, and mobilised tens of millions of rands into these areas, which has gone towards empowering communal farmers, clearing thirsty alien trees, building youth capacity in the green economy and starting green businesses. This work earned him recognition when he won the Mail & Guardian Greening the Future award. Samir’s overarching approach to conservation is that it can only be effective with a good scientific understanding of the systems that you are working in, as well as an understanding of the hearts, minds and ambitions of the communities that interact with them.

To follow more of Samir's work, you can find him on Instagram @samirrr_photography or through the WWFSA news platforms.