| |
| |
|
| |
EcoEducation
Resources
|
| |
Technikons
(Diploma in Nature Conservation)
|
| |
- Technikon
SA
- Diploma
in Nature Conservation
|
| |
Universities
(Various Eco-Degrees)
|
| |
- University
of Natal (Pietermarizburg)
- BSc
Agric (Wildlife Science)
- BSc
Agric (Grassland Science)
- UNISA (Part-time)
- BA
(ENV) Environmental Management
- BSc
(ENC/B/Z) Environmental Management
|
| |
Other
Education Facilities
(Various
Diplomas, FGASA etc.)
|
| |
|
| |
|
Education
for "Pleasure" or a Career in EcoTourism
The range of qualifications
you can do is enormous so be sure of your abilities / aptitude for
the career path that you have chosen before selecting a course or
qualification. Don't settle for second best; you are choosing a career
that you may spend the rest of your life in! You will need plenty
of spare time, dedication and money for the course fees before you
can begin to to study full time.
Most part-time
courses are less expensive and more suitable for those who need work
while they study. Part-time study needs much more dedication as you
will need to study when you least feel like it, after work or when
your other friends are going out. If you have the choice, try and
get a job that will improve your practical skills / knowledge for
the career choice that you have chosen. Don't miss a chance to learn
more from fellow colleagues by being too full of yourself or too proud
to make a fool of yourself. Learning about nature is a long adventurous
journey that is at times rather daunting. Persevere! Trust me it is
worth it in the long run!
Lots of money
is not what you'll get in most EcoTravel Industry careers! Job
satisfaction
while working in idyllic locations is part of your salary! Salaries
range between R650 (minimum wage) to R5,000 per month plus tips.
Dare I say it...tips from tourists can sometimes add up to a tidy
sum
though!
I hear it is possible to get tips as high as R20,000 per month!
Wow! Yet a more likely range is R2,000 to R4,000 per month even
at a
top
end lodge. For those in the field
however...nature doesn't have much time for
money,
so
I am
afraid
no monetary tips
for you
guys...just
many
memories
I suppose!
Who's who?
Guiding:
For guiding you
will need to register as a guide with your Provincial Tourism Authority.
You Guide ID card will be issued if you have qualifications that comply
with the new National Qualifications Framework.
Definitions
of guiding qualifications:
-
Field
guide: offers interpretation of the ecosystem, protection, and keeps
discipline in the group (additionally sometimes teaching basic bushcraft
and safari skills); often uses a vehicle on excursions - Field Guide
Levels 1, 2 and 3.
-
Special
Knowledge Skills (SKS): the minimum FGASA requirement for a
field guide to lead a party on foot in dangerous game country.
-
Tracker,
and Master Tracker: a category created for guides with a high
proficiency in interpretative skills, but whose level of formal
education precludes them from sitting for a field guide exam.
-
Wilderness
guide: offers interpretation of the ecosystem, protection to the
group and keeps discipline in the group, often using "soft"
or "people" skills as an integral part of the job; never
uses a vehicle when facilitating a wilderness experience.
-
Trail
Leader and Trail Assistant: a category created to accommodate
what used to be called "game guides", who may have
a high proficiency in "hard" bush skills, but is yet
to acquire the "soft" skills of managing a trail group,
and using the holistic wilderness experience to inculcate among
trailists an understanding of sustainability issues.
(An SKS qualification
would be on a par with Trail Leader; while a Trail Assistant may not
lead a trail in country with dangerous game, a FGASA-registered Level
3 Field Guide can and does lead trails.)
Other guiding
and safari names:
-
"Field
ranger": manages protected areas
-
"Ranger":
used typically in lodge environments to refer to the guide who takes
guests out in a game drive vehicle (sometimes on foot); seen in
some quarters as being closer to a tour guide than a field or wilderness
guide.
-
"Tracker":
used both in lodge environments, but also by FGASA, as the individual
who identifies spoor or animals on trail.
-
"Safari
guide": originally used in the context of hunting safaris,
but in the age of ecotourism more commonly to refer to the person
in charge of clients on a photographic safari.
-
"Professional
Hunter": accompanies hunting clients, usually into areas containing
dangerous game.
There are three
associations that accredit courses for trainers of guides who would
like to make a career in the bush (sometimes also operating in other
biomes, such as desert or mountain regions). All of these associations
subscribe to the need for setting high standards - to deliver a quality
product to tourists, and to rid the industry of "fly-by-nights".
The Field Guides
Association of South Africa (FGASA)
>> FGASA web site
Established in the late 1980's to set standards in the industry, it
accredits trainers and is recognised by Satour.
Courses:
-
Field
Guide Levels 1, 2 and 3
-
Special
Knowledge Skills (SKS)
-
Tracker
and Master Tracker
For affiliated
trainers see the Eco-Education Resources list block on this page.
The Wilderness
Guides Association (WGA)
Representing highly reputable organisations involved in training and
guiding for decades, the WGA strongly emphasises "soft"
or "people skills" in addition to "hard" ones.
Its membership includes trainers, trails leaders and assistants.
Affiliated trainers:
-
The
Trails Section of Kruger National Park.
-
KwaZulu-Natal
Nature Conservation Service (the former Natal Parks Board and KwaZulu-Natal
Department of Nature Conservation).
-
The
Wilderness Leadership School.
-
Individuals
trained by any one of these bodies, but who are now operating on
their own.
-
Trail
Leader
-
Trail
Assistant
|
|
