Rural areas that are home the Big 5 also have the highest level of poverty in South Africa, with some areas at 78.9% of the population living below the national poverty line. Education is very limited and under-resourced and yet the Big 5 are being protected by internationals. This project aims to bring awareness and provide opportunities for local children to learn and train to become conservationists and save their local environment

South Africa is the home to the Big 5. It is our responsibility to ensure we protect and save these animals for generations to come. Schools in South Africa are struggling to provide basic education and are not equipped to promote and educate young people on the conservation that is on their doorsteps. Our project aims to promote, inspire and help recruit future local conservationists

Conservation is a collaborative effort between communities, landowners, policy makers, educators, scientists & so on. It requires long-term investment and multi-party engagement, which is often hard to achieve when such a high percentage of the population is living in poverty and without access to any form of wildlife or conservation education. South Africa has a rich wildlife population that will become increasingly threatened if we don’t work together to educate and create awareness

Partnered with local schools, we will work with them to make improvements on the availability of resources for quality environmental conservation education. This involves classroom learning combined with a practical education in the environment itself. Our engagement with these young, developing minds on topics such as ecology, pollution & poaching will help to cement the importance of preservation of their natural world.

The positive impact can be seen in our classes through the change of attitudes towards the environment these children live in. We hope to engage & excite as many students and teachers as possible to preserve their natural resources, ensuring survival for many generations to come. This project will empower the students & staff of these educational institutes with the resources, knowledge & language skills they need to protect and preserve our natural world & to achieve further education.