The Conservation SPACE programme is dedicated to consolidating and extending the conservation landscape by working with communities. In particular, Wildlands Conservation Trust contributes to the sustainable management of communal areas through training and management assistance. New areas are also being actively brought under formal conservation thus contributing to the conservation of critical habitats and the many threatened and endemic species they house. Community conservation areas not only grow the ‘Conservation SPACE’ and establish biodiversity corridors between formally protected area’s, but also provide a local economic engine for ongoing sustainable development.Wildlands is currently working with 7 communities in Zululand and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands including the Gumbi, Mandlakazi, Mathenjwa, Mdletshe, Myeni, Ngome and Tembe communities, towards the consolidation of over 75 000 ha of land. Wildlands also supports the work of the KZN Biodiversity Stewardship Programme (run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife) in these areas.
CLICK HERE to see Conservation SPACE on YouTube.
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Indigenous Trees For Life is a livelihoods programme that helps poor and vulnerable members of our township and rural communities to grow a future for themselves. Wildlands Conservation Trust facilitators teach individuals in these communities how to grow indigenous trees from seed and care for the plants until they reach a certain height. These individuals are referred to as ‘tree-preneurs’. The trees are then traded back to Wildlands for food, clothes, bicycles, agricultural goods and tools, school and university fees. The trees are then either planted back into the communities or planted out in Wildlands’ forest restoration projects. The programme was started in 2004 in KwaJobe in northern Zululand with just 300 tree-preneurs. There are currently over 2 500 tree-preneurs, spread across 20 communities in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, who grow around 300 000 indigenous trees per annum.
CLICK HERE to see Indigenous Trees for Life on YouTube.
Biodiversity Management Support is a programme dedicated to supporting formal conservation initiatives. Wildlands Conservation Trust works closely with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to support their ability to manage KwaZulu-Natal’s spectacular network of conservation areas and the species residing there. Within this context, the bulk of our support goes towards the research and monitoring of threatened and endangered species with a total grant of R4,400,000 which runs until June 2010. It is supplemented with funding generated through the Bonitas Wild Series, which targets specific conservation interventions in the reserves in which the events are held.
CLICK HERE to see the Biodiveristy Management Support Programme on YouTube.
Green Leaders is focused on nurturing environmental awareness and leadership amongst our partners, including our tree-preneurs and community and business leaders. Our projects involve direct hands-on learning experiences, through which we expose our potential green leaders to our region’s spectacular biodiversity as well as volunteer working weekends and summer camps for Unilever and Lufthansa staff. The formal extension of Green Leaders into Indigenous Trees For Life includes an environmental education rewards programme for tree-preneurs and enterprise development capacity building for Indigenous Trees For Life facilitators.
CLICK HERE to see the Green Leaders Programme on You Tube.