ACE sponsors South African conservation enthusiast

ACE has always believed that conservation education is key to the long-term preservation of Africa’s natural resources. Conservation will be most effective in the hands of those who live in Africa and who value Africa’s parks and wildlife as their heritage.

Earlier this year, we joined forces with the South African charity “Children’s Eco Training” to support their efforts in conservation education in underprivileged South African Schools with the help of our Nholwasi volunteers. ACE Director Rob Harris also sponsored an educational outing to the Two Oceans Aquarium for a group of Cape Town school children, so that they could learn about the importance of preserving South Africa’s marine wildlife. We then decided that we would like to give the opportunity of a conservation placement to a local volunteer who could not afford the funding but who would use the knowledge gained to further conservation in Africa. And we are excited to introduce Moloko Makweya to you!

“I am Moloko Colleen Makweya, a 21-year young lady who comes from typically developing rural areas of the Limpopo Province in the far South of our capital city, Polokwane, called Mmotong- wa- Perekisi. I completed my junior degree of BSc in Environmental Sciences at the University of Limpopo last year 2009 and now I am doing my BSc Honours in Environmental and Resource studies at the same institution. My major courses include Geographic Information Studies (GIS) as well as Environmental Management. I am very passionate about conserving the environment I am living in because I would love the next generation to be exposed to the same environment or even better, not an environment that is occupied by theories telling them that during the last century there used to be these and that kind of animals and plants but now they are extinct. I hope to know much about how we people interact with both plants and animal species.

With that, then I will be doing anything in my skill and power to explore and gather much more valuable information with my experimentation. In life, we have big dreams and small ones. One dream of changing the world, the other one dream of being a president, others dream of owning cars and houses, but as an individual, I have a dream now of making a difference with the experience and knowledge I am going to acquire through the project. I see myself making Africa and mostly South Africa a much conserved environment. Only about 10% of our country is conserved, thus I would like to see the percentage increase mainly through the knowledge from the Zingela Predator Conservation Project I’ll be getting. This is a very good opportunity for me and a start to change our country for the better. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to develop and improve the little I know about conservation.”

Moloko is starting at the Zingela Predator Conservation Project this week. Keep an eye out for her updates!