WildREACH

Conservation through Knowledge

Wildreachsnap

Who and What is WildREACH?

Since its inception in late 2010, WildREACH (Wildlife Outreach) has grown to become an exciting, progressive and active community engagement project fostering a valuable relationship between student volunteers and local communities in which knowledge is shared and applied in an effort to promote social and environmental sustainability through wildlife conservation. WildREACH is currently based at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

The initiative has taken off as a project under the umbrella of the South East African Climate Consortium Student Forum (SEACC SF), one of the most progressive student organizations in South Africa. The successful development of WildREACH has largely been owing to the ongoing support of SEACC SF, the structural support provided by the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST) and, more recently, financial support from the Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT). A dedicated task team of students, together with an advisory committee of Rhodes University staff ensures that WildREACH’s management is both professional and effective.

What do we do?

Our outreach involves getting student volunteers involved in helping local youth between the ages of 15 and 18 develop or further any existing interest in wild areas, the natural environment and their importance. This is achieved through fun and exciting projects such as educationally-focused and activity-filled weekends away at local nature reserves, museum visits, day trips to wildlife areas and various other activities focused on conservation through knowledge.

Since its official establishment in March 2011, WildREACH has already visited the renowned Addo Elephant National Park as well as the magnificent Amakhala Private Game Reserve. Additionally, WildREACH has hosted educational workshops on traditional plant uses as well as river system biodiversity and water health monitoring. With all the support WildREACH has enjoyed, many more trips and activities will come into fruition. Please see the recent WildREACH progress report in the link below for more detailed information.

2011 – a roaring success

Within its first 8 months of its first year of operation (2011), WildREACH had hosted 8 excursions, reaching over 190 school children with a first-hand experience of nature. Below is a tabulated summary of our successes thus far.

**WildREACH 2011 Performance Summary**
Total Expenses	R20 786.13
Number of day trips	6
Number of weekend trips	2
Number of school children reached	193

With the recent and substantial financial support provided by the Wildlands Conservation Trust, WildREACH looks forward to moving from strength to strength and reaching more and more children with this powerful vision