Georgie Pearce and Owen van Rooyen, members of Peace Parks Foundation’s Communications team, had the opportunity to spend some time in the field, with a visit to the Southern African Wildlife College just outside Hoedspruit, within the Kruger National Park. It was the perfect motivation to build great relationships and stories.
Watch part one of their trip here and part two here.
On their visit to the Southern African Wildlife College, Georgie and Owen swiftly learned that the selection of courses and resources was almost boundless. The range of courses offered both bolsters urgent conservation needs and innovatively ensures that students are equipped with essential soft skills and resilience, too. Together, staff and students make a passionate and broad-based contribution to wildlife ranger training and wellbeing, leadership initiatives, responsible resource use, and the engagement and empowerment of communities.
The Advanced Field Ranger training focuses on the critical upskilling of the Quick Response Force team. Last year, these rangers were chosen as the best of the best to front and fortify the security in Zinave National Park before the arrival, by translocation, of the precious pioneer rhino herd.
With the support of the Sophia Foundation, the Southern African Wildlife College recently piloted the Leadership and Resilience training course. In a first-of-its-kind format, the course is designed to focus on the inner development of lead rangers and foster a sense of self and self-belief, which can greatly enhance leadership skills, build resilience, and help them garner more respect from their teams.
The operations of the Southern African Wildlife College extend across southern Africa, and they hope to have training hubs set up in other countries, which will make access to upskilling far more affordable and outreach much greater.
Georgie and Owen’s enlightening trip left them inspired by the pride and dedication of everyone involved, and the power of information. You too can expand your wildlife conservation knowledge by enrolling in a Southern African Wildlife College course. If you would like to support upskilling initiatives that are making a difference to conservation on a great scale, visit the college’s website today and help take training beyond boundaries!
