By investing in rural education and improved learning facilities, the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, in collaboration with Eco Children, strives to stimulate an interest in the natural world, whilst making a positive impact on environmental education and awareness amongst the youth in the local communities.

Eco Children began as a small initiative to enrich the lives of the children of KPNR employees through holiday bush workshops. It has since grown into a programme that has adopted nine primary schools in the towns and villages surrounding the reserve, reaching over 5,000 children in some of the poorest areas of South Africa. From ecology classrooms and keyhole gardens to newly built libraries and teacher upskilling workshops, every project is designed to foster a lasting connection between local youth and their natural heritage.

The results speak for themselves: hundreds of thousands of seedlings planted each year, thousands of books placed in the hands of first-time readers, and dozens of learners supported through bursaries into tertiary education. These are the seeds of change the Klaserie is committed to sowing, cultivating not just an interest in nature, but a generation of future custodians who will carry this work forward.