The Cape Leopard Trust believes that if we are truly to conserve biodiversity, we need to guide people, particularly children, to experience and connect with nature in a way that inspires them to be conservation ambassadors. That is why our Environmental Education programme aims to reconnect the youth to our natural heritage and to inspire the next generation to become passionate voices for nature.

To this end, we are proud to announce our Girls in Conservation programme. This year we have partnered with Cape Town-based NGO BRAVE and Table Mountain Fund. The ultimate goal of this programme is to create opportunities for girls and collaborate with partners to provide the resources, knowledge and experiences that will inspire girls to consider following a career in the Green Skills sector.

Together with BRAVE, we have identified 25 young women aged between 14-17 years, called the ‘Daring Disas’, to participate in our first Girls in Conservation programme. We began with a 2-night wilderness immersion in the Cederberg to inspire these young future leaders to fall in love with nature and to introduce them to conservation career options. The next part of the programme consists of five day-excursions, during the July school break, where the girls will get to experience a ‘day in the office’ in the career of a nature guide, wildlands firefighter, botanist, sustainable food farmer and researcher. Each day, leading women from each career path will address the girls and share hands-on experiences.

We are super excited about the potential of this programme, and the future of these bright ‘Daring Disas’ and look forward to the journey together – watch this space for further updates!