By Lerato Ndlovu
Renowned comedian and choreographer Joshua “Carl” Ncube’ has produced a documentary blending conservation with arts in a bid to promote sustainability of using natural resources.
Dubbed ‘A Wild Ride With Carl’, the documentary features scenes all corners of Zimbabwe with the post-production having been done by MMX Productions and Reelnet Multimedia.
The documentary gives an insight into how people from different walks of life are working to promote conservation of natural habitats and wildlife
In his Mbire and Kanyemba visits which are Mashonaland Central province, the comedian is marvelled by the way scouts and game rangers are working against illegal poaching and violation of conservation.
He is also moved by the way the people in Kanyemba have made a living out of fishing in the Zambezi waters.
The documentary also promotes Lupane people’s way of dealing with the conservation and probably help market the products they are producing from wild Manketi nuts that they are processing into oil and sell to markets for revenue while conserving the natural habitats and surroundings.
In the capital city, Carl meets up with Harare students who are being funded to conduct research on conservation where one of the student is researching the seeds of a particular palm tree that is popular in the brewing of traditional ‘palm wine’.
The study is to help propagate these palms fast enough so that they do not become eradicated through the fermentation of their sap for palm wine.
Finally, his trips end up in Chiredzi where he joined community kids on an excursion into the vast Gonarezhou National Park, home to the majestic Chilojo Cliffs. The Chiredzi visit helps people to learn about school life, school tours, community tourism and sustainable conservation.
To help blend arts with conservation, a song by a local Zimbabwean musician Sylent’s “Vakuruwe”, which laments the disappearance of our heritage and echoes the need to take an interest in protecting our animals for the next generation, concludes the documentary.
Carl Joshua Ncube is a 2017 Global Ted Fellow and has been twice nominated for the Pan African Comic of the Year in 2017 and 2018 at the Savanna Comic Choice awards in South Africa