“Catching them young”

Summary

Youth were introduced to key aspects of wetland ecosystem health and indicator methodologies to determine habitat characteristics (wetland zone health), aquatic ecosystem health indicators (fish and macro-invertebrates) and water quality.

LIMCOM in collaboration with the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), are taking decisive steps to strengthen their joint freshwater management strategy by empowering young custodians of shared ecosystems in the Limpopo River Basin (LRB) and the GLTFCA.

As part of this commitment, the two organizations convened a Youth Science Exchange Workshop in Makuleke Contractual National Park in the Pafuri region of northern Kruger National Park in South Africa for young leaders to deepen their knowledge, exchange scientific insights and strengthen their role in managing shared natural resources across the Limpopo.

Held on 10-12 June 2026, the pilot community-based youth science exchange workshop targeted secondary school kids from the Makuleke community, who are pursuing natural science subjects. The programme combined classroom instruction with field‑based education in the floodplains of the Makuleke Ramsar Wetlands.

Workshop facilitation was provided by renowned experts from the GLTFCA including the Kruger National Park from South Africa, Limpopo National Park from Mozambique and the Gonarezhou National Park from Zimbabwe, as well as officials from the South African Department of Water and Sanitation and the LIMCOM Secretariat and the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.

Youth were introduced to key aspects of wetland ecosystem health and indicator methodologies to determine habitat characteristics (wetland zone health), aquatic ecosystem health indicators (fish and macro-invertebrates) and water quality.

LIMCOM and the GLFTCA organized this initiative with support from the German Government.

The main objective of the initiative is to empower communities through transfrontier youth exchange focusing on freshwater ecosystem health and conservation development in the eco-tourism sector, enhancing capacity development and the scientific outreach of existing monitoring of freshwater ecosystems in part of the GLTFCA with exemplification of other parks and biospheres in the system.