Every human being has greatness inside them

Leadership cannot be taught inside a classroom

Individuals need a space to discover their own drive and passion for positive change

South Africa needs more environmental leaders

Leaders are individuals with vision, passion, humility and a desire to give more than they take

About Us

The Nsasani Trust is an educational non-profit organisation that is dedicated to the empowerment of South Africans through holistic education and training programs. Its objective is to foster a generation of conscious leaders who are capable of building a better future for South Africa in the face of complex social and environmental challenges, including biodiversity management for conservation. Its founding members have a proven track record of inspiring young scientists and professionals through the running of higher education programs in collaboration with the Organisation for Tropical Studies (OTS), the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of the Western Cape, Duke University, and South African National Parks (SANParks).

A response to South Africa’s call for action

In South Africa, as in the rest of Africa, significant environmental challenges include the skills shortages in civil society and local institutions, and a widespread struggle to interpret the basic tenets of biodiversity in locally relevant terms. Skills shortages are currently being addressed through a Human Capital Development Strategy for the Environmental Sector published by the Department of Environmental Affairs and for the Biodiversity Sector put forward by SANBI, the Lewis Foundation and GreenMatter.

View the SANBI document

View the DEA Document

Nsasani delivers a service in support of this Human Capital Development Strategy through the design and delivery of a range of fit-to-purpose high-impact educational modules. Our core programming ranges from school level to university courses and internships through to teacher training and specialist courses for professionals. To our knowledge, no other organisation exists in this country to provide such a function with the goal of inspiring more young South Africans to pursue graduate level studies in the sciences. We also can design or co-ordinate tailor-made programs for your students or personnel.

Our roots in the Kruger National Park

Many institutions have been identified as key role players in the Human Capital Development Strategies put forward by the DEA and SANBI/GreenMatter including South African National Parks. Not only does SANParks have a strong institutional base with significant human capital, they also are the custodians of a significant segment of the country’s most diverse and ecologically important natural capital. Global conservation focus is increasingly placed on the protection of Ecosystem Services but the role among these of knowledge services (the use of nature for education and the advancement of expert and lay environmental knowledge) is too little acknowledged and developed. South Africa’s protected areas make ideal classrooms and laboratories and are essential learning spaces for furthering our understanding of ecosystems and human’s role within them.

The Nsasani Trust is currently based in Skukuza, KNP and captures the opportunity to use one of South Africa’s greatest natural assets as a classroom allowing for experiential learning while bridging the gap between disadvantaged communities, tertiary education, and the biodiversity sector and streaming selected students into critical gaps in South African human capital.

Read about our tripartite initiative in the Kruger National Park