The time to invest in our planet is now - International Mother Earth Day 2023

This year’s theme, Invest in Mother Earth, calls on us to not only be more aware of our impact on the planet but it requires us to learn more about our natural surroundings.
A better understanding of the workings of our natural world, will enable communities around the world to preserve our planet for generations to come.

At EcoTraining, more than 14,000 local and international students have completed courses that have not only created opportunities for them to work in the ecotourism industry, but these courses have focused on shaping students to become guardians of nature.

“I have done a few EcoTraining courses, Tracks and Tracking was an awesome course and extremely interesting. Last year I did a Safari Guide course of a month in Botswana with EcoTraining and I just enjoyed being in nature, living in nature and learning from nature, said Wilfried Hahner, a Freelance Tour Guide from Namibia.

For three decades EcoTraining has been South Africa’s original Field Guide Training School with the most significant and bio-diverse footprint in Africa. The organisation offers over 22 courses, ranging from 6-day nature programmes to one-year professional accredited courses and online courses.

“I will definitely do a few more courses when time allows and I can just strongly recommend EcoTraining. These courses really helped me a lot and I enjoyed every second. If you want to be in the bush, if you want to learn more about nature, ecology, about the environment and about animal behaviour, then you have to enrol,” said Hahner.

The United Nations has also created the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to help anyone with the restoration process of an ecosystem. This initiative focuses on the following actionable points:

- Identifying World Restoration Flagships that give visibility to initiatives in support of the global mission to restore earth.
- Bringing degraded ecosystems back to life – for example by planting trees or cleaning up riverbanks.
- The creation of the Community Organising Toolkit on Ecosystem Restoration – a way to equip change-makers, with the tools, knowledge, and resources necessary to restore their ecosystems back to productive, and healthy spaces.

The conservation and protection of our ecosystems form an integral part of all EcoTraining’s courses, whether through teaching students about it during lectures or as part of certain conservation efforts like bush clearing, erosion prevention etc.

For 30 years, EcoTraining has been the pioneer and leader in Africa’s safari guide and wildlife training. The safari industry widely recognises EcoTraining’s credibility and standard of excellence in nature guide training. We offer accredited career courses, gap year and sabbatical programmes, nature programmes, high school and university study abroad programmes, custom courses and on-site professional guide training at safari lodges. All courses are run directly from EcoTraining’s unfenced bush camps in prime wilderness areas across South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe.