Green economy pathways for young people
Expand accredited conservation training
The Youth in Nature Project puts accredited training inside Calvinia, so that a conservation career no longer depends on leaving home to find one. Participants draw a salary as nature conservators in training whilst they qualify.
Training that does not require leaving home
The project rests on proximity. Training, placement and mentorship all happen in and around Calvinia, so the qualification does not cost a young person their home base to obtain.
The Northern Cape offers young people little in the way of work or economic activity, and the training that might alter that is almost always some distance from where they live. For many, that distance is the reason they never start.
Fourteen young people in Calvinia entered accredited training this year. The first year leads to a Nature Conservation NQF4 qualification and the second to an Environmental Monitor NQF5, with a salary drawn throughout.
They work alongside experienced staff on land that requires active management, finishing with credentials an employer recognises rather than a certificate with no work behind it.
The district gains something it has long lacked, a body of people qualified to care for the land around them. Fourteen places is a small answer to a shortage that runs across the province, and the model extends only as fast as we find local partners willing to host and mentor.
Backed by people close to the work
“Since 1 April 2025, my journey in nature conservation has been challenging, eye-opening and deeply rewarding. The training has changed how I see nature and strengthened my commitment to actively protecting our natural world.”
Janine Conradie · Youth in Nature Project participant
Participants also lead environmental education activities at schools in Calvinia, which is often the first time a local learner meets someone from their own town working in conservation.
Partners who share the pathway
Karoo Jeug Stigting is the local implementation partner in Calvinia, providing day-to-day mentorship and connecting learners with landowners and conservation authorities.
Grant funding comes from Nedbank Private Wealth and from Quemic Africa, who also contributed applied training and workplace exposure. The Greater Stellenbosch Trust co-funds the Calvinia delivery partnership.
The Hantam Local Municipality enables workplace-based learning at Akkerendam Nature Reserve and on local farms that act as conservation corridors.
This year in numbers
Financial year ended 28 February 2026.
Where the pathway goes next
A qualification opens a door. A mentored placement is what gets someone through it, which is the next step along this pathway.
