Manager: KwaZulu-Natal Conservation Leadership Group, a working group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust
Do your children know which endangered species occur in your area? Janis’s job is to ensure that they do. She teaches rural children about their environment and the fauna it supports.
‘Without environmental education, we are not going to save this Earth,” she declares with passion.
Janis travels all over KwaZulu-Natal to make children aware of why they need to protect endangered species and what would happen if these disappeared. She works from home, but manages five young education officers who will ultimately take over from her.
Her former job prepared her for this work. As a field extension and education officer for the KwaZulu-Natal Crane Foundation, she coordinated the national Farm Workers and Schools Awareness Programme for the EWT’s South African Crane Working Group.
Janis is inspired by the commitment of her five officers. Although their salaries are small, they have a strong desire to make a difference within their community.
‘Because I am a woman, the guys sometimes try their luck, but they respect me because of my training. In the end, we’re mates in conservation, trying to meet a common end!”