MEET THE EHRA ELEPHANT CONSERVATION TEAM
EHRA Directors
Rachel Harris
Managing Director
In 2004, Rachel relocated from the UK to Namibia to begin Elephant-Human Relations Aid, a human-elephant conflict mitigation programme.
Rachel has built up an award-winning volunteer programme and eco-tourism initiatives, which help to fund our conservation activities. In addition to day-to-day operations and managing a large team, she oversees strategic partnerships, marketing, financial management and all of EHRA’s conservation projects.
Mike Boettger
Director | Lawyer & Pilot
Mike joined EHRA’s board in 2022 and has since supported us in all legal matters.
He practised law for many decades before following his passion of being a commercial pilot and getting involved in wildlife conservation in his home country. He now owns Scenic Air Namibia and actively engages in conservation projects. We are very grateful for his expertise and enthusiasm!
Hendrick Munembome
Director | Community Liaison
Hendrick is from the Zemba tribe, so understands the cultures and languages needed for working with Namibia’s rural communities.
He developed his passion for elephants and the environment while working for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the Kunene Region, and then leading hikes through lion and elephant country with Raleigh International. Working with EHRA and our PEACE Project since 2018 all adds up to over 25 years’ experience!
Thimo Tjiramanga
Founding Director | Tour Guide
Thimo is a dedicated wildlife enthusiast and a founding director of EHRA with 27 years of experience as a tour guide in Namibia and various Sub-Saharan countries. Thimo actively contributes to EHRA's initiatives by sharing his knowledge by presenting regularly on our conservation projects, community workshops, and the volunteer program. His passion extends to educating both tourists visiting Namibia and local Namibian schools, making him a very valuable board member.
Frank Bockmuhl
Director | Hydrogeologist
Frank is Namibian and greatly assists EHRA with his expertise in hydrogeology, which is of immense importance for our Solar Water Pump Project.
He joined EHRA’s board in 2022 and has since helped us with many of our projects, including the corridor project. Being a farmer himself, he can relate to many of the problems elephants can cause on farmland. This, plus his passion for elephant conservation is of great help to EHRA.
Johannes Haasbroek
Founding Director
Johannes has lived in Namibia for over 25 years. Through volunteering with Save the Rhino in the Ugab area, he witnessed the return of the desert elephant herds. Johannes founded EHRA in 2002 and registered it as a NGO in 2003. Johannes' passion for the wilderness, conservation and love for elephants was the motivator to start EHRA. He used his old 1983 Land Cruiser and funded the project through various international guiding expeditions.
Dr. Betsy Fox
Director | Veterinarian
Dr. Betsy Fox, originally from the USA, has lived in Namibia since 1990. She is a qualified veterinarian, and has led an amazing life amongst Namibia's wildlife. Betsy lived in Etosha National Park, working for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, before becoming Conservation Scientist for the Kunene Region.
Betsy’s been a friend of EHRA since we started, and since retiring in 2018 has been supporting us as a consultant.
EHRA Staff Team
Andreas Simbudhi
Volunteer Project Manager
Andreas joined the EHRA team in 2018. His passion for our volunteer programme quickly saw him undergo training and develop his skills to become an excellent Volunteer Manager.
Andreas supports our volunteers during Build Week to ensure protection walls are built safely and well! He also benefited from in-depth training from our Head Elephant Tracker, Mattias, and now takes our volunteers on successful elephant patrols.
Shitunda Diyeve
Base Camp and Logistical Support
Shitunda grew up in the rural areas of Namibia and joined the EHRA Base Camp team in 2016. He works with Matheus and Adolf to keep the camp running smoothly ready for the volunteer groups. This includes protecting the camp’s water pipes from our destructive neighbourly baboons, and porcupines!
He also uses his carpentry skills during our school trips by being part of the team constructing much-loved play equipment for the local children.
Charles Moloto
Tsaurab Valley General Manager
Charles Moloto serves as the General Manager at Tsaurab Valley, including EHRA Base Camp, overseeing all aspects of operations. With a background in lodge management, Charles brings valuable expertise to ensure the seamless running of activities, vehicle fleets, camps, and the dedicated staff team. With his newfound passion for elephant conservation, Charles guides visitors safely during elephant tracking activities.
Herman Kasaona
PEACE Project Field Leader & Tracker
Herman Kasaona was appointed by the Otjimboyo Conservancy chairperson to become an Elephant Guard. He excelled during the training and his enthusiasm for elephants and conservation is unstoppable. He developed a passion for teaching communities on how to live peacefully with elephants.
Herman supervises our communal Elephant Guards and leads our PEACE Projects. He is also an excellent tracker, guiding our volunteers during elephant patrols with Andreas.
Maryna Groeschel
Bookings Manager
Maryna joined EHRA in 2024 as our Bookings Manager. With her calm, professional and kind manner, she became invaluable to our operations! Maryna is Namibian and grew up in a small town called Okahandja. Being a nature-lover, she started working in tourism and conservation in 2017, and gained experience at the Naankuse Foundation and thus brought with her a wealth of expertise and passion.
Anna Sheehama
Environmental Education Program Manager
Anna grew up in the Nambian village of Engela, and despite the lack of wildlife there, she developed a huge passion for nature and knew she wanted a career in conservation.
After interning at EHRA for six months in 2019, she joined the team full time in 2021. She has since developed and now spear-heads our new environmental education project S.E.E.D.
Her passion, dedication and knowledge makes S.E.E.D. a wonderful success.
Matheus Kangumbe Jnr.
Operations Co-Manager
Matheus joined EHRA in February 2014 and works incredibly hard on any task he’s presented with. After a successful period of managing the volunteer programme he is now focusing on the management of the EHRA Base Camp.
Matheus works with Adolf and Shitunda to make sure that Base Camp is running smoothly and everything is working effectively, including the essential job of maintaining our fleet of 4x4 vehicles from the camp’s workshop.
Mattias Kangumbe Snr.
Head Elephant Tracker
Mattias joined EHRA in June 2010. He brought with him a wealth of experience and knowledge about the Kunene Region of the Namib Desert. Before joining EHRA, he spent over 30 years working as a tracker for Save the Rhino Trust.
After spending seven years working with our EHRA volunteers, he now spends his days tracking elephants for our research projects. Mattias is a larger than life character and an incredible elephant tracker!
Christin Winter
Conservation Programs Manager
Christin has been with EHRA since 2017. She coordinates and further develops all of our conservation programs, manages our Community Elephant Guard team, leads our grant fundraising, and is responsible for designing reports, educational and other printed materials. After studying Communication Design in Germany, she qualified as a FGASA Field Guide and gained experience working as a Trails Back-Up in Kruger National Park, South Africa, as well as a research technician at Save the Elephants in Kenya, and Elephants Alive in South Africa.
Ngundee Katuaundu (Decko)
Head Elephant Guard East
Known as Decko since his teenage soccer years, Ngundee was trained as a communal Elephant Guard in 2022. Since then, him and Edla work tirelessly to respond to the many human-elephant conflicts in the vast Greater Omatjete Elephant Management Area.
Decko likes challenges and therefore has an unstoppable enthusiasm for the Elephant Guard program. Since 2024, he was promoted to Head Elephant Guard East.
Karl Gawanab
Sorri Sorris Conservancy Elephant Guard
Karl lives in the north-eastern corner of Sorri Sorris Conservancy, at a farm called Bokpos. There, he is perfectly situated to attend to human-elephant conflicts occuring in his neighbourhood. He is the second Elephant Guard in Sorri Sorris we employed and we are confident that we will reach more people through more boots on the ground in such a large conservancy.
Christophe Pitot
Field Operations & GIS Manager
Chris, originally from Mauritius, has been with EHRA since 2011. Chris overseas our fleet maintenance, and manages the planning and implementation of all conservation projects, including our solar water pump and electric fencing projects. Chris has an Oxfort cerificate in geospacial and remote sensing analysis, and he creates all of EHRA’s elephant movement and project impact maps. Chris is a qualified FGASA Field Guide and worked in Kruger National Park, South Africa, training other students.
Community
Edla Nguaiko
Omatjete Area Elephant Guard
Edla is a huge asset for our Elephant Guard program.
She shares the responsibility for HEC in the Greater Omatjete Elephant Management Area with Ngundee. Edla stays calm and steady during challenging moments and responds very fast to any elephant-related problems.
Apart from being an Elephant Guard, Edla is also the mother of three lovely children.
Fiona (Fifi) Touros
Expeditions and Joint Assistant Manager
Fiona started to assist Rachel on EHRA’s fundraising trips in 2023 and, being always happy, energetic and efficient, became a full time staff member in 2024. Fiona, or Fifi as many know her, manages EHRA’s new Shop and Environmental Education Centre, assisting Anna and Herman during education courses and overseeing everything that is happening that side of EHRA’s camp.
Elephant Guards
Nicanor Ortner
Fransfontein Elephant Guard
Nicanor, short Nicky, serves as a pastor in his hometown Fransfontein. Over the past decade, he attended many of EHRA’s PEACE Projects, and helped during collaring operations in the area. Having grown up amongst wild elephants and knowing how to peacefully coexist with them, Nicky is very passionate about elephant conservation and the work as an Elephant Guard.
Johannes Hishikushitya
Volunteer Project Assistant
Johannes joined EHRA for 6 months, from January to July 2022, completing his practical placement for his Bachelor of Natural Resource Management (Nature Conservation). He investigated the research question: Why do desert-adapted elephants migrate between the Sorris Sorris Conservancy and the commercial farmland?
In 2024, Johannes started to help Andreas on volunteer trips as the Project Assistant, ensuring the volunteers have an amazing time at EHRA!
Taiwin Garoeb
Head Elephant Guard West
With his warm and open-hearted nature, Taiwin easily reaches the people in his conservancy. He is creative and sees opportunities in bettering the Elephant Guard program.
Taiwin is passionate about elephants and keen to learn. He often helps on other EHRA projects, plus was part of the recent CCN documentary about EHRA! Since 2024, Taiwin was promoted to Head Elephant Guard West, being responsible to manage Nicky and Karl’s activities.