1. Vision of Nature Connect

Through sustained education programmes and targeted accredited training interventions from crèche into a career, Nature Connect aims to build a citizenry who are strongly connected to nature and embrace opportunities to steward nature through empowering innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms.

Our purpose is to support the unique and biodiverse natural heritage through education, training and conservation initiatives.

Nature Connect has three main focuses:

• conducting high-quality, outdoor education programmes designed to challenge and change the lives of youth,
• provide accredited training, skills development, workplace experience and job readiness to gain access to the Green Economy, and
• participation in activities that support environmental stewardship and the development of the Green Economy by providing expertise for managing public and private conservation areas or through receiving, managing, and disbursement of funds for conservation.

2. Inclusivity and Interconnectedness

Nature Connect's Crèche-to-Career model is intended to foster a life-long passion for nature and stewardship of natural resources through various touchpoints during the life of an individual.

Our three main business areas focus on providing interventions to ensure that individuals and communities are exposed to the wonders of nature and create the structures to enable them to become environmental champions or pursue a career in the Green Economy.

Nature Connect's Sustainable Schools Programme is the initial engagement by facilitating whole-school sustainable development, immersive programmes and camps in nature, long-term youth programmes (Conservation Leadership Project), SACE endorsed teacher workshops and career guidance.

Sustainable Schools Hub is a dynamic, innovative and safe platform for collective learning, teaching and sharing, and provides uninterrupted support and easy to use resources for the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development.

The Green Skills Programme aims to provide learning interventions through bursaries, learnerships, skills development or internship programmes. Nature Connect is an accredited training provider with CATHSSETA and AgriSETA with a focus on providing accredited training in Nature Conservation as full qualifications or skills programmes (short courses).

The Nature Care Fund is dedicated to managing conservation projects and protecting endangered species in South Africa. We currently support and facilitate conservation efforts for 10 vital urban conservation areas, encompassing over 420 hectares of wetlands and endangered vegetation.

The Nature Care Fund also provides work-place experience and careers in the Green Economy.

3. Reconnecting and Impacts

The main intention for establishment of Nature Connect in March 2001, was to reconnect communities to nature, in particular in the nature reserves that surround them.  To this day, this intention remains intact.

Each of our three business areas aim to regenerate the relationship with nature be it with school going youth, out of school youth, teachers, developers, corporates, public and private land owners. Through establishing partnerships we increase our reach and impact. We mitigate damage to earth's biodiversity by changing people's minds around the value of nature and the importance of caring for it.

Over the last 20 years, we have invested over 2 million educational impact hours.

The recently launched Sustainable School Programme is currently working with over 133 schools in 4 provinces (Western Cape, KZN, Gauteng and Limpopo).

Over 320 youth (60% which are woman) have passed through our training programme with approximately 80% of learners receiving post programme employment.

Over 71 endangered species are protected—over 423 Hectares of endangered vegetation actively restoring public and private areas of high biodiversity value.

Nature Connect is an NPO (013-964) and a PBO (930023924)