Young Expert at For Elements - South Africa

YEP Role

I worked as a Landscape Mobiliser with Living Lands/For Elements in South Africa, where I am promoting sustainable ecosystem restoration in the Berg River catchment through:

• Engaging with local communities, landowners and emerging farmers in co-creation of solutions and building local knowledge and collective understanding of the opportunities in ecosystem restoration (through training, workshops, site visits, etc);
• Developing business cases for ecosystem restoration in the Berg River and identifying local companies and other stakeholders that are willing to invest, and make resources and skills available;
• Supporting action on the ground, with planned activities in the Berg River
• Identifying alternative livelihoods strategies which accommodate both social and environmental prosperity;
• Creating an enabling environment with local, provincial and national governments and private sector to upscale the identified ecosystem restoration interventions and expand the approach through the whole Berg River.

Click here for more information about my project.

Skills

• Stakeholder engagement
• Public speaking
• Project management
• Visual Communication
• Understanding of ecological cycles

Nationality: South African and Dutch
Education: MSc Conservation Biology, University of Cape Town 

Experience before YEP

• Research and Teaching Assistant for BiomimicrySA, South Africa
• Environmental Control Officer with NCC Environmental Services, South Africa
• Research and Teaching Assistant with the Organization for Tropical Studies, South Africa