Many children in rural areas of southern Africa attend primary schools adjacent to national parks or other protected wildlife areas, living alongside dangerous species. The Southern African Conservation Trust (SACT) has pursued the goal of creating 'conservationists of tomorrow' through its rural schools' education program. The initiative aims to encourage children to value their natural heritage through a series of comics aimed at teaching them about the threats to local ecosystems.
Although rural communities live alongside wildlife, their primary interaction has been to protect their families, crops, and livestock from being destroyed by local wildlife with little concern for animal welfare by killing local wildlife which may impact the wider ecosystem they live in.
By educating children, and indirectly the community, alternative solutions to protecting their crops and livestock can be considered. The education is presented through a comic book series entitled, Vusa the Wildlife Guardian. Through their adventures and encounters with local wildlife, Vusa (a schoolboy) and his sister Thandi pass along knowledge to their friends and classmates about the species they are likely to encounter and their role in the ecosystem they live in.
Through educating children, and then indirectly the community, the attitude of local communities towards conservation the value their natural heritage, which will evolve and eventually secure the future of African wildlife. These educational comics focus on ways to reduce conflict with wildlife as well as highlighting the economic benefits of wildlife including tourism. Armed with this knowledge, we hope to help create the conservationists of tomorrow, starting with school children.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
