Karkloof Conservation & Tourism - Farm Schools Projects

Farm Schools Projects

Local farm school kids get up close and personal with environmental education

The Karkloof Conservancy runs an annual environmental education program for the four farm schools within the conservancy. The programme begins with an educational talk given to the pupils in isiZulu about a particular conservation issue. This year the topic was Birds of Prey. The schools are then provided with art material to create their own poster based on what they have learnt. The posters are then judged by the conservancy members at their Annual General Meeting, and the winning school is taken on a day trip to a conservation- themed venue. This year the winning school was Hawkstone School, and they won a trip to the African Birds of Prey Sanctuary run by Shannon and Ben Hoffman in Ashburton.

The children had a great time walking amongst the enclosures, and Leila Smith from the Midlands Meander Association Education Project, explained some of the finer points of conservation to them in isiZulu, assisted by staff from the Karkloof Conservancy and the Sanctuary. Shannon Hoffmann treated the kids to a live flight display from several of their captive birds, including a Peregrine falcon and a Barn owl, and then showed the children how eager and territorial the vultures get when they feed. Everyone enjoyed lunch afterwards and there was even enough for seconds and thirds! Thank you to all those involved in making this a day to remember for the kids and teachers from Hawkstone School.




	1: Home 2: The Karkloof 2.1: Karkloof History 2.2: Accommodation 2.3: What to do in the Karkloof 2.4: Karkloof Falls 3: The Karkloof Conservancy 3.1: About Us 3.2: Vision and Mission Statement 3.3: Projects 3.4: Conservation Committee 4: Conservation Centre 4.1: Initiative 5: Farming Practices 5.1: No-Till Farming 5.2: Biodiversity/Agriculture 5.3: Biological Fly Control 5.4: Oribi Custodians 5.5: Crane Custodians 5.6: Biodiversity Stewardship Programme 5.7: Predators and Farmers 6: Farm Schools Project 6.1: 2008 6.2: 2011 7: Birding 7.1: Karkloof Sightings 7.2: Birdlist (PDF) 7.3: Photograph Archive 7.4: Bird Ringing 8: Cranes 8.1: Grey Crowned Cranes 8.2: Wattled Cranes 8.3: Blue Cranes 8.4: Wattled Crane Recovery Programme 8.5: KwaZulu-Natal Crane Foundation 8.6: Crane Ringing 9: Environmental Education 9.2: WESSA Share-Net 9.3: Eco-Schools 9.4: Nature Ways DVD 10: Conservation Issues 10.1: Alien Plants 10.2: Mallard Ducks 11: Upcoming Events 12: Useful Links 13: Contact Us	Farm Schools Projects Local farm school kids get up close and personal with environmental education The Karkloof Conservancy runs an annual environmental education program for the four farm schools within the conservancy. The programme begins with an educational talk given to the pupils in isiZulu about a particular conservation issue. This year the topic was Birds of Prey. The schools are then provided with art material to create their own poster based on what they have learnt. The posters are then judged by the conservancy members at their Annual General Meeting, and the winning school is taken on a day trip to a conservation- themed venue. This year the winning school was Hawkstone School, and they won a trip to the African Birds of Prey Sanctuary run by Shannon and Ben Hoffman in Ashburton. The children had a great time walking amongst the enclosures, and Leila Smith from the Midlands Meander Association Education Project, explained some of the finer points of conservation to them in isiZulu, assisted by staff from the Karkloof Conservancy and the Sanctuary. Shannon Hoffmann treated the kids to a live flight display from several of their captive birds, including a Peregrine falcon and a Barn owl, and then showed the children how eager and territorial the vultures get when they feed. Everyone enjoyed lunch afterwards and there was even enough for seconds and thirds! Thank you to all those involved in making this a day to remember for the kids and teachers from Hawkstone School.