Southern African Wildlife College Courses Offered in 2025

1. Advanced Certificate in Nature Conservation: Trans-f rontier Conservation Management

Approved by the Council of Higher Education of South Africa.

The Natural Resource Management Qualification Department strives towards maintaining a healthy balance between theory and practice with a strong emphasis on Applied Learning. As the College is based within the Greater Kruger National Park, students acquire hands-on experience in all aspects of nature conservation during their training. Furthermore, a Work Integrated Learning project bridges the gap between classroom learning and workplace reality.

Occupational Qualifications

The following Occupational Qualifications are offered by the College:

National Certificates

The College offers National Certificates in Conservation at NQF Level 2 and 5 recognized by the Education and Training Quality Assurance Body, CATHSSETA. All our registered qualifications are recognized by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and consist of fundamental, core, and elective unit standards which are the building blocks of the qualifications. Our students achieve these qualifications through a combination of training sessions on the College campus and experiential learning in the workplace. See below for further details of the following qualifications on offer:

National Certificate: Natural Resource Management: Terrestrial: NQF Level 5 Further Education

Training Certificate: Professional Hunting: NQF Level 4 National Certificate: Nature Conservation: Resource Guardianship: NQF Level 2

2. Skills Programme

Skills programmes are designed to be occupationally relevant and composed of CATHSSETA registered unit standards.

Dangerous Game Site Guide – NQF 2, TG/DANGAMSITEGD/2/0043

Dangerous Game Site Guide – NQF 4, TG/DANGAMSITEGD/4/0044

Field Ranger Law Enforcement – Unarmed or Armed – NQF 2, CONS/FIERANGLAWENF/2/0049

Field Ranger Protected Area (Unarmed) – NQF 2, FIERANGPROTAREA/2/0050

Conservation General Assistant – NQF 2, CONS/CONGENASS/2/0052

Skills Programme accredited by the ETDP-SETA in partnership with the Independent Examinations Board.

Foundational Learning Competence – NQF 2, 88895

FGASA Endorsement of SAWC as a Training Provider

SAWC is able to provide training for:

• Apprentice Field Guide NQF2
• Apprentice Trails Guide
• Advanced Rifle Handling
• Tracking
• Birding
• Biome Guide

3. Short Courses

The Southern African Wildlife College offers organisations and or private businesses the opportunity to enrol their staff for training in any of our short courses on the basis of ten people attending as a minimum requirement. Training can take place at the SAWC or on-site at a location preferred and provided by the client. Courses can be tailored according to the specific needs of the organisation.

4. Customized Conservation Courses

The Southern African Wildlife College’s Customised Conservation Courses offer the opportunity for the exchange of dialogue around today’s most prevalent conservation issues experienced in Southern Africa. They aim to share understanding and experiences on the most contemporary conservation issues of today.

Courses can be tailor-made to match the time constraints, budgets and the curricula for university or school groups with various topics or themes of interest presented by highly qualified and experienced subject matter experts within our various training departments and region. These subject matter experts provide talks and activities and can be viewed within the categories below. Tours through the Lowveld region of South Africa to places of interest are also tailored to fit well with the below themes to give student groups the most value and learning exposure in their study abroad visit to South Africa.

5. Online Courses

In order for the SAWC to continue to add significant value to the conservation sector, it needs to be adaptive and flexible not only in the courses it presents, but as a thought leadership, inclusive conservation, higher education applied learning facility.

A number of really exciting new developments are underway for implementation 2020 – 2025. This is as a direct response to the needs of the industry for a more cost effective and academically inclusive approach to training, and in utilizing technology-mediated learning to enhance the student learning process.

One of the developments is the online aspect to the College’s new ‘blended learning’ approach to capacity development. This is particularly relevant for the theoretical components of some programmes and also for master classes and short courses.

For the first time, selected online courses are now being offered using the Talent-LMS platform as well as Google Suite for Education already in use at the SAWC. The three-year Diploma in Applied Conservation, which has been submitted to the Council on Higher Education for accreditation, will also be offered in a ‘blended’ format. The first two years will be on-line training, with the third and final year trained at the SAWC covering the Applied Learning aspects. The development of this Diploma is part of a GIZ funded programme within their TFCA programme of work.

6. Other Programmes

Youth Access Bridging Programme: The bridging programme piloted in 2010 has been revised and includes foundational learning competence (FLC) to enable learners in the use of workplace literacy and numeracy for the world of work. The second phase of training includes comprises skills development components that are based on industry/market needs. These components aim to cover Leadership, Environmental Education, Wilderness First Aid Training, New Venture Creation (NVC) and Eco Ranger training.

The aim being to provide youth from local communities access to further education and training as well as access to workplaces where they will be paired with employed individuals to apply the knowledge gained and the skills learnt.

The Youth Access Bridging Course is one of the few programmes offered by the College to school leavers to help bridge the gap between school and tertiary education. Please refer to page 45 for further details.

Southern African Wildlife College Courses are more than just a means to an end of academic excellence, they are opportunities for personal growth. The Southern African Wildlife College Courses mentioned above transcend traditional academic boundaries, offering students a chance to engage with timeless ideas, diverse cultures, pressing global issues, and essential skills. These courses not only prepare students for their chosen careers but also shape them into well-rounded individuals ready to navigate the complexities of the world.