Conservation at iSimangaliso has never been about fences alone. Each programme below is a standing commitment, with its own criteria, intake and reporting.
01
GEF-7 Project
iSimangaliso is an implementing partner in “Catalyzing Financing and Capacity for the Biodiversity Economy Around Protected Areas”, funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. It grows the biodiversity economy — wildlife, bio-trade and ecotourism — for communities around the Park, from stewardship workshops to game donations such as the twelve giraffe delivered to the Makhasa Community Conservation Area.
GEF project documents
02
Rural Enterprise Development
Established in 2008, the Rural Enterprise Programme opens economic doors for neighbouring communities. It has supported more than 645 local entrepreneurs with training and mentorship and awarded 220 small business grants, prioritising SMMEs linked to conservation, tourism and the biodiversity economy.
Enterprise development
03
Tertiary Education Support
Since 2010, the Tertiary Education Support Programme has helped young people from communities around the Park study conservation, tourism and development-related fields. It has supported 194 students — 168 of whom have graduated — with bursaries, stipends, laptops, workshops and work-based experience inside the Park.
Tertiary education support
04
Environmental Education
The environmental education programme brings the wonder of the Park into local classrooms — and local learners into the Park. Two branded buses carry schools to uMkhuze, Sodwana and the Eastern Shores for curriculum-aligned field trips, supported by community outreach and youth conservation work.
Environmental education
05
Community Hubs
At Nkovukeni, KwaDapha and Mabibi, three hubs built with WILDTRUST give the Park’s most remote communities a library, a computer lab and a meeting venue — and have created more than 27 permanent jobs for people living inside the Park.
Community hubs
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Bursaries and vacancies
Bursary intakes open when matric results are released, and posts at the Authority are advertised as they become available.
