Work Experience in South Africa

Location:
South Africa

Year:
2023

Summary:

Apex Conservation Services facilitates Work Experience Programmes which aim to grow people’s passion for nature and allow them to gain valuable practical experience in conservation work. This programme gives participants an inside view into what environmental work involves while allowing them to travel and visit South Africa.

Hunter joined us for two months, over the course of June and July in 2023. He learnt about the thicket biome and its importance in South Africa. He discovered what Ecological Restoration is and he gained practical experience through his involvement in our Thicket Restoration Project across farms in the Eastern Cape. Hunter got to experience working at Addo Elephant National Park; undertaking resource management work – maintaining critical water points for wildlife, as well as taking part in the anti-poaching patrols and animal husbandry in the national park. He got to see the important work that the rangers do in the Garden Route National Park, and was involved in resource management and trail maintenance. Hunter enjoyed some great surfs in places such as Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay and he got to explore the beautiful Garden Route and experience Cape Town and all it has to offer.

This Work Experience Programme gave Hunter the opportunity to travel to South Africa and explore what conservation work is really about at its core. Through his involvement, he assisted Apex Conservation Services in restoring degraded thicket, while gaining practical experience and theoretical knowledge in ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation.