Ecosystem function through Lessons in Conservation: Alleviating youth stressors through education, access, and careers

Abstract At a time when illegal wildlife trade is at an all‐time high and local populations lack accessibility to protected areas in South Africa, educating young people about conservation, ecosystems, and future career opportunities is paramount. The use of informal educational programming has the potential to alleviate belonging and engagement stressors while also illuminating conservation‐based career destinations for traditional populations of youth in the Lowveld ecoregion. More research is needed regarding the use of nonprofit organizations to facilitate informal youth conservation education programming in South Africa. As such, this case study utilized a pre‐ and post‐survey approach to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Lowveld ecoregion youth in an outdoor experiential learning setting. Results indicated that the youth did have a positive response to learning about conservation, ecosystems, and food webs during the Lessons in Conservation nonprofit educational experience. Descriptive data also indicated that educational programming impacts youth participants’ career pathway choices. The authors recommend further research on a broader scale to better understand youth knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to conservation education programming.