The earth works as a system, any conservation effort from one environmental sector successfully aids in the preservation of another natural resource. Unfortunately, the same applies with regards to overexploitation.

I have been given the opportunity to work with the ATF in South Africa as part of a government intership grant and the above point was highlighted at a recent WWF-SA Groen Sebenza Interns Workshop Programme.  It was a great opportunity to finally meet other young people who share the same vision as me in terms of conservation.

Through the introduction and talks, I got to know what drives the other interns and their career goals and objectives. I learnt about the various scope of work that they are doing in their institutions( WESSA, Nature Flower Valley, Maluti Water, Emanti Management  etc.) in relation to the issues associated to water scarcity in South Africa and preservation of indigenous plant species e.g. Fynbos.

While we all seemed to differ in our fields of interests, e.g.  Agriculture, Botany, Freshwater and Marine, we all shared a common goal for conservation. This allowed me to value my presence in the ATF team and, to use the opportunity granted to me as much as possible. I feel motivated and I now understand where I belong in terms of environmental conservation as an Albatross Task Force Intern. I also had an opportunity to share my passion for seabirds and the kind of work I am involved in with the ATF team in South Africa.

The overall take home message for me was that we all have a role to play in conservation and in order to make this a reality we all need to learn to co-exist.