Community Development in Golden Gate Highlands National Park

It’s been a week of disparate jobs in Golden Gate Highlands National Park for this little GVI. I’m currently working on a couple of different projects for the Community Based Conservation arm of the park’s People & Conservation office, and this suits me fine, because my background is in community development and engagement.

This week I’ve worked with local Elders in the implementation of a new (in this park) program to teach young people from perviously disadvantaged backgrounds the value of their closest National Park and it’s component Natural and Cultural Heritage. I’ve burrowed through mountains of old files to uncover information about natural resource utilisation, and I’ve spent significant time staring at pictures of grasses in a vain endeavour to learn some of the 60-odd species found in this highveld grassland environment.

Highlights have included an informative trip into town (an hour each way) with the boss to interview an old hand about the way things have run up here, a surprisingly productive day spent choking on dust as I rummaged through 20 year old files, and the smiling face of Oom Petrus, 99 years young as he chowed through his sandwiches and talked about the days when he was working in the park, many, many years ago.

One thing you can definitely say for working in SANParks, you never quite know the job you’ll be doing or the plans you’ll need to remake just about every day, but you’ll always be able to find reward in it if you’re prepared to keep an open mind and an eye out for it.

Written by: Andy Quick (GVI Intern Golden Gate Highlands National Park)

Date posted: 12/03/2011

Community Development in Golden Gate Highlands National Park