James Mbewe

2019 Intern

Meet James Mbewe. He has Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from the Copperbelt University. He also attended a short course on Science Communication through the University of Maryland. He is innovative and loves to see positive change in every venture he does.

James joined WWF as an Intern under the Freshwater, Basin Health Report Card Project. From this Internship, he was accepted to the Netherlands Young Experts Professionals Programme. We asked him a few questions about himself, see below.

Who do you look to for inspiration?

Dr Loreen Katiyo, the Acting Freshwater Team Leader. She is an engine. She is dedicated to what she does, she is so focused. I am inspired by that.

What motivated you to join WWF?

I am passionate about nature conservation. I grew up in a Game Management Area were over exploitation of natural resources was common. People turned to poaching as a source of income, I wanted to be part of the solution to this problem. This is why I pursed a degree in Wildlife Management, and I knew WWF would be the ladder I needed to achieve my goals.

What environmental issue would you like to be part of addressing?

Sustainable management of natural resources in various communities. So that the next generation can benefit from our planet tomorrow. Also that we can use the environment for our benefit, but without depleting or over exploiting it. Be it flora, fauna or wildlife.

What excited you the most about this Internship?

I enjoyed the science. I loved working together with different stakeholder to bring a solution on how natural resources could be sustainably managed. I saw that endorsing a project or report by stakeholders was easy, when a participatory approach was used.

Now, thanks to the Netherlands government and WWFs support, I am a River Basin Health Monitoring Young Expert. I will be working on researching the health of various rivers including the Kwando River. I could not be more excited about my new role!

What role can your generation play in making the world a better place?

I think we need to become good stewards of our own resources. Change starts with me. If everyone can realize this, the better, we can conserve our natural resources. Every individual’s perception on conservation should be upon us. Everyone should think about what role they can play to conserve the environment and nature.