The Conservation Music Project is a
grassroots movement to foster a global culture of
sustainable development
through locally created educational music and film.
We are a multinational collective of musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and conservationists… one that believes in the power of music to spur positive change. We bring together old and new technology and sounds to create music and imagery as timeless as age-old traditions, as relatable as modern music, as fresh as creativity that’s reaching towards the future.
Lesotho is also known as “The Kingdom in the Sky,” or, “The Mountain Kingdom.” This tiny, landlocked country that’s nestled inside of South Africa’s borders is home to a plethora of vistas and beautiful mountain passes….but also to a rampant overgrazing and erosion problem.
Fortunately, the colorful culture of music and instruments has not been washed away. The local sound is “Famo,” a music for men that hosts prominent vocals, complex rhythms, polyrhythmic composition, and a handful of widespread, expressive melodic lines that serve to define it’s unique sound. Nowadays the sound is often dominated by a dark side, violent lyrics with a fiery accordian accompaniment, but our friends The Sotho Sounds keep it real with traditional instruments and positive messages. Learn more about our conservation targets, our musical partners, and our other supporters below.
At present, the majority of CMP’s work in Botswana is centered around the Okavango Delta in the country’s most northeastern province, Ngamiland. The Delta, also known as “The Jewel of the Kalahari,” is one of the most important wildlife hotspots in Africa. In the heat of the Kalahari dry season, the Delta is flooded by the waters of the Angolan highlands, creating an oasis for elephants, lions, giraffes, hippopotami, red lechwe, and an abundance of species of all shapes and sizes. It is, by far, a one-of-a-kind place on earth.
In addition to natural heritage, this place is home to a wealth of cultural heritage as well. At least 12 different languages are spoken in the Delta, and with each of these come different styles of singing and dancing. The variety of homemade traditional instruments is fascinating, but unfortunately, many of these instruments, dances, traditional songs–even languages–are beginning to dry up and fade away. Among its other goals and targets, the Conservation Music Project hopes to play a role in maintaining the importance and the relevance of musical traditions in the area!
The goal of this project is to create a song encapsulating the importance of the Okavango River system to all that inhabit the region across all three countries that the river flows through. The song will be composed in the styles and the languages of Angola, Namibia, and Botswana to appeal to the entire catchment region.
The project intends to produce a single song combining the various musical styles of entire Okavango region. The song will be multilingual and will blend traditional and modern sounds to appeal as large an audience as possible.
