Assist the long term conservation of South African national parks and learn valuable new skills

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Program Overview
Life on the Program
Project Details
Volunteer Testimonials

Program Overview

This amazing internship opportunity will take you the world famous Kruger National Park in South Africa where you will undergo a comprehensive 2 week training course delivered by industry specialists.

Following this initial training, you will be placed in one of South Africa’s spectacular national parks, each renowned for their incredible wildlife and dramatic landscapes. You will be working in the ‘People and Conservation’ department helping to encourage and educate visitors to the parks, neighbouring communities and young people. In doing so, you will receive high-profile environmental education and hands-on conservation experience.

Highlights on this internship includes Living in the most spectacular locations in South Africa; Learning about conservation in National Parks; The Training fortnight in Kruger National Park; Five day tour of parks with fellow interns; Working with local communities and amazing wildlife encounters; Diverse adventure opportunities such as game viewing, camping, hiking, bush walks and canoeing and white water rafting.

After a successful internship, qualifying candidates may be given the opportunity to work for GVI or selected partner organisations in South Africa, or in other countries around the world where GVI operate. Field work positions can be paid or unpaid, range in duration from one month to one year, and availability varies. Qualification for possible GVI positions is at the sole discretion of Global Vision International.

Life on the Program

Placements are allocated depending on your skills, experience and the needs of the parks at the time. Depending on the location of your placement, you could be living and working in a beautiful and diverse range of landscapes, from wild savannahs to the mountains and the coastal plateaus. As an intern, you will be assigned to the resident People and Conservation officer at your park. The projects you will be involved in vary across the different parks.

The two week training programme in Kruger National Park includes;

basic field guiding techniques
Reptile handling course
Game drives/walk and much more
A five day tour of the national parks midway through programme
Discounted entry to all national parks
FGASA annual membership
Manual and exam subscription for Level One Theory

Work Placement:

Following the training at Kruger National Park, you will travel to your assigned park where you will undergo an orientation and further training specific to that park and department. The projects you will be involved in vary in each park, as some departments focus more in environmental education whilst others are more culturally orientated.

You will live in the park, sharing basic accommodation and facilities with other park staff. Most accommodations have electricity and running water and interns buy and prepare their own meals. Depending on your allocated park, you will live within beautiful landscapes from wild savannahs to mountains and coastal plateaus.

Project Details

As a member of the People and Conservation department, your work will focus on three main areas:

Community Based Conservation

In the past, communication between parks and local communities has been poor. The department invites local people to discuss and cooperate in future policies and aims to promote conservation to local communities and improve park access.

Environmental Education

The department has prioritised the teaching of visitors to the park, using a variety of presentations, talks, interpretive displays, guided walks and game drives.

Cultural Heritage

Many national parks are home to cultural heritage sites, such as rock art and sacred grounds, which hugely important to reviving indigenous knowledge and oral history. The department is working to conserve, manage and shared these sites in conjunction with local communities.

Volunteer Testimonials

The 2 weeks in Kruger Park was fantastic. I then transferred to my new home: Namaqua National Park. It's just wonderful here! Love the scenery, the amazing sunsets every evening, the gazing at the...

Kristel Ottoy, Belgium

The 2 weeks in Kruger Park was fantastic. I then transferred to my new home: Namaqua National Park. It's just wonderful here! Love the scenery, the amazing sunsets every evening, the gazing at the stars, the silence when you wake up in the morning and have your first cup of coffee...

We just started up a cultural heritage program and hope to promote tourism in the local communities. Water week is coming up so we’re visiting some schools and next week we take some young people on Imbewu camp to give them a real wilderness experience.

During my time in Bontebok we had a controlled burn, two game counts and a three-day game capture. As for People & Conservation work – we reached 1000+ students mostly in school visits but there...

Kim Rozell, USA

During my time in Bontebok we had a controlled burn, two game counts and a three-day game capture. As for People & Conservation work – we reached 1000+ students mostly in school visits but there were park visits, exhibitions and municipal programs as well. And always there was time to dash out of the office to watch birds, gawk at the mountain zebra or catch the bontebok just grazing.

I completely fell in love with the freedom of movement allowed in a non-predator park, and with daily encounters with the wildlife. The Bontebok staff is like a family.