'The conservationist's most important task, if we are to save the Earth, is to educate.' So said Sir Peter Scott, Founder Chairman of WWF. 40 years later, Hettie Gets, Manager of WWF-SA's BP Conservation Education Programme wholeheartedly agrees. 'Environmental education at all levels makes a critical contribution to people's ability to participate in caring for the Earth,' she says. 'Conservation education and training should be encouraged as a lifelong process.' The programme aims to develop human creativity and capacity to participate in determining the future of the planet. In facilitating education processes, it strives to understand and act apon the inter-relatedness of humans with their surroundings.

Environmental education engages with ecological, economical and socio-political principles, and it therefore is the thread that sews each of WWF-SA's programmes and projects together. From the production of educational resources, for example through the Share-Net project, (co-funded by Gold Fields and McCarthy), which develops and disseminates materials to a wide-ranging network; to the building of teaching capacity through the Eco-Schools Project (co-funded by Nampak) which involves educators and learners in curriculum and hands-on activities, EE permeates all the programmes.

WWF strives to improve people's capacity to address environmental problems by encouraging action-based projects. The Master Farmer programme on the Wild Coast (funded by The Green Trust, Anglo American and Guinness UDU), for instance, teaches farmers how to maximise returns on their land in a sustainable manner, eliminating the need for 'slash and burn' techniques which puts the forests under threat. Trainers within Business and Industry, Agriculture Extention Officers, EE Staff of Conservation agencies and Trainers within Local Government, are some of the other groups which the Programme engages with.

Environmental education creates the social context within which environmental and biodiversity conservation is possible and sustainable. It provides people with the capacity and skills to make informed decisions about their livelihoods, lifestyles and relationships with the environment. As our environmental awareness and actions increase, so shall our ecological footprint decrease.

Click here to view all our Conservation Education projects