Since 2015, Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) has been partnering with Still Standing, lead by Saranga and his team, to bring mini basketball to children living inside Niassa Reserve. This comes with messages of conservation, health, and leadership to increase tolerance, promote coexistence and generate wildlife friendly communities. Basketball is a sport taught in Mozambican education curriculum from primary school, but many schools in remote areas have no equipment and facilities to teach and learn this sport.

We believe that the future of the African lion and their landscapes lies in the ability of lions and humans to coexist. In order to secure this future, people must also collaborate and work together bringing together different skills to get this done. This partnership, between NCP and Still Standing is exactly the type of partnership that is needed.

To lose lions would be a disaster for Mozambique’s protected areas economically, culturally and ecologically. For the youth, lions provide a powerful symbol of bravery, courage and teamwork as they are the only cat that lives and hunts in groups. They also feature strongly in cultural and spiritual stories and folklore and can generate public will for conservation.

“Be a lion in your community.” Stand up, be proud, be brave and work together to make your communities a better place.

Through this partnership Still Standing produced the short film “Niassa Dreams” which firmly connects the messages of conservation to the program.