Conservation student off to youth forum in Italy
HER love of nature was instilled at an early age by her mother and the natural beauty of her hometown, Plettenberg Bay.
Now Jesse Wildeman will be able to share this passion with like-minded youth from around the world when she travels to Italy for a Unesco youth forum later this month.
After the Garden Route was declared a biosphere reserve by the Unesco Man and Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council, Wildeman, 22, responded to a call for applications for the MAB Youth Forum, to be held from September 17 to 23.
The forum is aimed at uniting youth living in biosphere reserves globally to discuss their respective environments.
For Wildeman, a nature conservation student at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in George, travelling to Italy’s Po Delta Biosphere Reserve is a dream come true.
“I’ve never been abroad, so this opportunity is amazing,” she said.
“I probably won’t have a lot of time for sightseeing because of the seminar, but it will be great to see the biosphere reserve, and for me that is better than the touristy sites.”
Wildeman will make a presentation about the Garden Route to her peers, but said her main goal was to learn from the other representatives.
“We have a lot of challenges in the area, including poor communities, and helping them integrate with the environment.
“I want to learn from the others and bring that information back to help set up a youth forum here.
“The George campus has a lot of courses relating to natural resource management, making it a good place to start.”
She attributes her passion for nature to her mother, Shelley, who died last month after battling leukaemia.
“I grew up in Plettenberg Bay and she always took us for walks on the beach or dragged us along on hikes.”
Once she finishes her studies at the end of the year, Wildeman is intent on working towards furthering conservation in this country.
“This seminar comes at the perfect time, because it will show me many different [career] options.
“I am not yet sure what I want to do next, but I do think there is a big need for environmental education in the country to be broadened,” she said.