Conservation Management of African Ecosystems. Presented in South Africa to final year Veterinary Students attending Glasgow University

Location:
South Africa

Year:
2020 and 2022

Summary:
Apex Conservation Services in collaborated with Conservation Management Services co-designed and facilitated a custom conservation management programme aimed at providing insights into Conservation Management in Africa.

A variety of carefully selected prominent Protected Areas, Protected Environments, Private Game Reserves and mixed wildlife-livestock farms were selected to present the programme in. We felt this approach would provide the students with an informative and well-balanced perspective of conservation management across multiple sectors.

Field trips to the selected areas and interactions with on the ground managers provided the students with a meaningful appreciation for conservation management in South Africa. Students were involved in all practical aspects of conservation management ranging from hands on restoration activities, wildlife capture, translocation, husbandry and welfare to undertaking practical veld assessments.

Key focus areas include:

• Terrestrial and Marine Protected Areas, Parastatals, Protected Environments, Private Game Reserves, NGO’s and other organizations
• Climate, geology and soils
• Vegetation and ecological capacity
• Natural resource management
• Regenerative land management
• Practical veld assessment techniques
• Wildlife: identification and management, capture and translocation, husbandry and welfare
• The conservation and management of species of special conservation concern
• Ecological restoration of degraded areas: soil erosion control and techniques, invasive alien plant control
• Monitoring systems
• Economic tools for conservation

Community-based conservation