World Youth Wildlife Summit

The World Youth Wildlife Summit is an initiative of Project Rhino’s Wildlife Youth & Leadership Development (WYLD) pillar. It is imperative that we inspire the youth to play an active role in shaping a sustainable future for wildlife and the environment, and thus, help stop wildlife crime. Bringing the youth together with conservation experts, exposes them to the opportunities that exist within the Wild / Conservation Economy: from reserve management to ecotourism, marketing and fundraising, law-making and policy-shaping, community-based conservation and education and awareness.

The 2019 World Youth Wildlife Summit, Kruger National Park, South Africa

The 2019 World Youth Wildlife Summit brought together more than 165 youth, 20 adult chaperones (educators and community leaders), 35 conservation role models and 5 keynote speakers from the 21st – 24th September, to engage, empower, educate and equip the youth to become Ambassadors for Conservation and influencers to reduce wildlife crime.

The delegates were challenged during many hours of discussion and debate regarding the responsible use of wildlife resources, strategies for demand reduction, the link between poverty and poaching, habitat loss, and the role of education and awareness.

The conservation role models, and keynote speakers gave freely of their time to impart knowledge, answer questions and even provide career guidance, further motivating the youth to explore opportunities within the biodiversity economy.

World Youth Wildlife Summit: Youth Camps 2021

In light of the continued pandemic, interruption of travel and current restrictions and lockdowns in South Africa and across the world, the 2021 World Youth Wildlife Summit will be postponed to 2022. Instead, we will be hosting two smaller ‘Youth Camps’, one on the border of Kruger National Park in September, and another at Loziba Wildlife Reserve (Zululand) in August. Each camp will host approx. 30 youth plus their educators, a small group of local Conservation Role Models and the WYWS team. This way, we will ensure that social distancing measures and Covid-19 protocols can be maintained. Our Vision, Mission and Objectives remain the same and we believe that connecting youth and conservationists is as important, if not more, than ever.

Vision:
A world without wildlife crime.

Mission:
To engage and educate youth leaders in critical conservation issues and to empower and equip them to become ambassadors for wildlife protection.

For more information on the 2021 Youth Camp Activities and Programme, download the Overview PDF here.

More Information

For any further information, please feel free to contact us at the details below:

Micah van Schalkwyk (WYWS Manager): micah@projectafrica.com

Francois du Toit (Programme Director): ceo@projectafrica.com

Find us online:

Facebook: @YouthWildlifeSummit Twitter: @WildlifeSummit Instagram: @youthwildlifesummit

Sponsors:

All our World Youth Summit events are made possible through the generous support of individual donors, companies, schools and foundations. If you, or your organisation, would like to assist in sponsoring a delegate or other means, please get in touch. Kindly see our Sponsorship PDF for more info.