:: Conservation Leadership Group

The Tony and Lizette Lewis Foundation provides funding to the Conservation Training Programme and Tracker Training Project, two of four projects undertaken by the Conservation Leadership Group (CLG) of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. This group is dedicated to capacitating disadvantaged individuals through mentorship and training programmes that lead to progressive careers in conservation, eco-tourism and environmental education.  In this way, a network of future leaders for environmental responsibility and sustainable living is being established.

Both the Tracker Training Project and Conservation Training Programme implement training programmes that bridge the skills gap created by a disadvantaged education while enhancing the students’ knowledge beyond the borders of their own communities. Active and participatory mentorship forms a cornerstone of the training which includes English tuition, life skills development and driving licence courses as essential empowerment components.  These competencies will significantly enhance the project beneficiaries’ chances of entering the job market once graduated.

Conservation Training Programme
The Conservation Training Programme, the flagship training programme of the CLG, is a specialised training and mentorship programme designed to capacitate previously disadvantaged students for careers in conservation.  Candidates are recruited from students registered for a National Diploma in Nature Conservation which is offered as a correspondence course by the University of South Africa (UNISA).  As the emphasis of the Conservation Training Programme training is on quality tuition and individual attention, student numbers are limited to 20 per year.  The training content of the project is designed to run in conjunction with and complement the university curriculum (on average a four year course). Through its monthly training workshops, the Conservation Training Programme offers interactive learning opportunities in theoretical and practical aspects of conservation.  Furthermore, as part of its philosophy to develop and capacitate the students, the Conservation Training Programme focuses on developing life-skills as well as written and spoken proficiency in English.

Another vital component of the programme is the opportunity it creates for students to develop as role models in their communities. This is achieved through their involvement in the CLG’s environmental education initiative, the Eco-Warrior Programme, where senior Conservation Training Programme students work as environmental educators in previously disadvantaged schools.

Tracker Training Project

The Tracker Training Project was implemented at the beginning of 2005 and is now in its final year. The Tracker Training Project, based in the Lilydale Community bordering the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, mentors and trains 20 rural learners through a nationally accredited field guide skills development programme to enter the eco-tourism industry as professional guides. It is hoped that this project will be the first of a series of community based projects capacitating the youth in rural communities through skills development programmes towards professional employment in the eco-tourism and conservation sector.
A strong component of the Tracker Training Project is the collection of indigenous knowledge in the form of stories relating to traditional beliefs about local biodiversity and its uses.. This information, gathered by learners from village elders, will be compiled in a book for sale at local safari lodges to support continued eco-tourism training within the community by the Lilydale Development Forum.

Achievements
A total of 33 of the 40 students that have participated in the two Conservation Training Programme three-year training and mentoring cycles since 2001 have entered the workplace. The remaining 7 are in their 2^nd and 3^rd years on the programme and have been joined by 12 new students entering their first year of the programme. The employed students now as a group generate an annual income of almost R1,7 million, a large percentage of which returns to the micro-economies of the various rural communities the students originate from.    The total cost of the Conservation Training Programme training and mentorship programmes over the last 6 years has been R1,175,000, significantly less than these future conservation leaders return to society in one year. The excellent academic performance achieved by the Conservation Training Programme students (93% of exams written were passed with an average mark 25% higher than the UNISA average for disadvantaged students) is a clear indication that the training is successful.
Twelve of the Tracker Training Project learners have passed the FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) Level 1 theory exam and been found competent in practical assessments (the CLG considers this a significant achievement as the pass mark is 75%). The 8 learners who failed in their first attempt have recently rewritten the national exam and are expected to pass. All learners have successfully completed accredited First Aid Level 1 and Computer Literacy courses and have started with driving lessons.  English lessons are continuing until the students attain the required standard.  It is anticipated that all twenty students will graduate from this programme in December 2007, when they will take up offers of employment in the luxury safari lodges in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve.  Amongst the graduates will be the first black female tracker in the Sabi Sands.

CONTACT DETAILS
Conservation Training Programme                Tracker Training Project
Graeme Wilson                                                        Ed Farrell
graemew@ewt.org.za                                     edwardf@ewt.org.za
                                                                              082 788 5095

Endangered Wildlife Trust
Private Bag X11
Parkview
2122
011 486 1102 ext 236

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