Windhoek: More than 550 Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) officials have been trained to date through a five-year partnership with the Pangolin Conservation Research Foundation (PCRF). The initiative has focused on crucial themes such as managing live pangolins, handling confiscated pangolin products, and establishing best practices for transporting the animals to veterinary care and release, PCRF Executive Director Kelsey Prediger recently told Namibia Press Agency.According To Namibia Press Agency, the collaboration between MEFT and PCRF has achieved significant milestones. 'We have trained over 550 MEFT officials and partnered in the rescue of 48 pangolins. We also launched a pangolin guardian programme for communities in the Nyae-Nyae Conservancy. As our reach has grown over the years, we have regularly engaged stakeholders in the Zambezi Region as one of the poaching hotspots,' Prediger said. The foundation received its first live rescued animals from the Zambezi Region in December 2 025, marking a major milestone.To further safeguard wildlife, PCRF is launching a Kavango-Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area awareness campaign. The initiative uses the pangolin as an umbrella species for broader biodiversity conservation, while also highlighting other tourism-critical species such as the southern ground hornbill, wild dog, cape clawless otter, spotted-necked otter, carmine bee-eater, and honey badger.The foundation has initiated its first-phase training for community game guards in the Zambezi Region, sponsored jointly by PCRF and Gondwana Collection Namibia. The training commenced last week in the Mashi, Sikunga, and Salambala conservancies, with three to five more conservancies tentatively scheduled. Prediger expressed hope that the foundation will secure larger sponsorships by the end of the year to expand the programme to all remaining conservancies, including Kavango East and West.'Pangolins are worth more thriving and alive than poached, because they significantly improve g razing for wildlife and crop production through the control of pests,' Prediger stated. At the core of the awareness campaign is the 'Pangolin Guardian Handbook' and local community screenings of the documentary 'Guardians of Eden', an award-winning Namibian documentary which highlights the grassroots efforts required to save species from extinction. The film centers on local communities, rhino rangers, and pangolin trackers who act as frontline stewards of Namibia's biodiversity.Mashi Conservancy Manager Richard Mukuve and Sachona game guard Nicky Puteho praised the initiative during the recent training, describing the engagements as eye-openers for local conservation.