North West Parks and Tourism Board awards 20 Field Ranger bursaries to youth and staff

The Southern African Wildlife College with the support from the Game Rangers Association of Africa (GRAA) and Liberty Foundation awarded bursaries to twelve employees of the North West Parks and Tourism Board and eight unemployed community members and four staff members in the Province to undergo a five week course in Field Ranging.  The course commenced on the 8th November until the 11th December 2009, at Hoedspruit in the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga.

The bursaries where facilitated by NWPTB together with the Province Tribal authorities and Communal Property Associations – CPAs from Dikgatlong in Brits, Barokologadi ba Gamaoka in Madikwe, Barolong in Potchefstroom, Balete in Zeerust and Batlokwa in Moses Kotane (Mogwase).

The NWPTB selection came from five of the nature and game parks, the Highveld National Park, Boskop Dam, Vaalkop Nature Reserve, and the Pilanesburg National Park out of the fourteen parks entries. The programme is part of the skills development training offered to staff and disadvantaged communities by NWPTB.

The eight unemployed youth were selected from a pool of entries into an essay competition on “How they would add value to their communities’ development programmes with in Nature Conservation and Tourism utilizing existing resources”.
Whilst the NWPTB staff were to indicate how they will benefit as individuals and staff in their respective working stations of the fourteen Nature Reserves and Game Parks of the Province.

NWPTB organized a send off dinner for the twelve candidates in Rustenburg over the weekend. The participants were given an opportunity to know each other and familiarize themselves with the programme.  It was clear from the mood of conversation that everybody was eager and exited.  Promotional materials were given to all candidates to utilize as referrals during training.

Some of the projects initiated and managed by communities are, Twin River Game Farm of Barokologadi, Sebele Game Farm of Dikgatlong Community, Highveld Game Reserve of Barolong and Thakadu by BaTlokwa to mention a few.

It is hoped that upon returning from the Field Ranging Course in December, the candidates will impart knowledge with their fellow community members and colleagues in order to benefit the Province current and future generations within the framework of ‘Biodiversity Conservation Management’.