GARDEN ROUTE NEWS – During the weekend of 5 and 6 June, the Nature's Valley Trust (NVT) took part in the Wildlife Conservation in South Africa Online Conference, organised for the first time by The Expedition Project (Tep) in partnership with nine other South African NPOs.
According to an NVT press release issued on 18 June, the conference was unique and different from other conferences in the way it was formatted and presented.
It was directed towards university students (most currently completing veterinary degrees), based in the United Kingdom.
The conference was designed to allow maximum opportunity for the students to interact with each speaker on a more personal level. After each presentation there was an opportunity to attend a live Q&A chat session.
This chat room allowed admittance of ten people at a time and gave each student the chance to ask questions, face to face.
Their attendance of the conference counted towards credits for their degree. It was also open to anyone interested in wildlife and environmental studies and in increasing their knowledge on conservation in South Africa.
The conference was used as an educational platform, not only on wildlife conservation in South Africa, but also to raise funds for each of the participating organisations. All the funds raised through ticket sales were divided among the NPOs according to the number of talks they contributed to the conference.
NVT gave two talks on the weekend. The first was on its white-fronted plover research which forms part of the #ShareTheShores programme, and the second was on pollination in the fynbos.
Other participating organisations included the Cape Leopard Trust, the Amakhala Foundation, Marine Dynamics (Dyer Island Conservation Trust), Endangered Wildlife Trust, ProVet Animal Hospital, BioWise, Zululand Conservation Trust, Wildlife Ecology Lab and Nelson Mandela University (Terry-Lee Honiball).
As part of NVT's partnership with Tep, they are developing online courses for university students, school learners and the public.
These courses will also contribute towards credits for students. The first, an introductory course to NVT's work, is already live and the more in-depth courses will follow shortly. Funds raised from the courses will be donated to NVT and its important conservation work.
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