Giant Sable Conservation Efforts
Found only in central Angola, the giant sable is one of the most impressive but also one of the most critically endangered African antelopes. It was unprotected during the civil war that began in 1975 and only ended in 2002. Government and rebel armies alternately occupied the 8,280 sq km Luando Integral Reserve of the Giant Sable and the 630 sq km Cangandala National Park, 50 km from Malange, the provincial capital. Without a giant sable bull, the sable in Cangandala were doomed to extinction, hybrids or no hybrids.
To read his article further and see the slide show of the operation,  go here.

Breaking News - Giraffe kills Impala
Fresh scarlet brain-blood had flowed from the baby impala's nostrils to pool thickly in the footprint of a bull giraffe Read further...

How can we help you!
With holidays, career breaks or future employment opportunities taking a back-seat, many people are looking towards doing something constructive, affordable and above all for themselves. EcoTraining offers a wide variety of courses to suit many individual needs for now and the future!

Why Choose EcoTraining?
•We’ve been training since 1993 - one of the first organisations to conduct formal training.
•We train in great wilderness areas including the Kruger National Park.
•Our students train while living in the middle of the African wilderness, with wild animals potentially right outside their tents as our canvas tented camps are unfenced.
•We have trained Field Guides for top tourism operators such as Wilderness Safaris, Tanzania Wildlife Safaris, KZN Wildlife, Heritage Group and various privately-owned game lodges in southern Africa.
•and more reasons to choose us…

Join the Butterfly Survey at Makuleke
Let us know if you encounter these butterflies at Makuleke in the Kruger National Park. 79 species were recorded during the last survey, a couple of species that were of interest eluded the team. We need your help in documenting the species below.
It would be great if the presence of the following species can be confirmed for the area, as the current records are either very old, doubtful or based on single records only, which could indicate that the specimens recorded were onlymigrants into the area. The species that would be really great to record again are:
Acraea acrita (Fiery Acraea)
Charaxes bohemani (Large Blue Emperor)
Euxanthe wakefieldi (Forest Queen)
Cyrestis camillus (African Map Butterfly)
Dixeia doxo (Black‐veined white)
Andronymus caesar philander (White Dart)
Andronymus neander (Common dart or Nomad Dart) 

Home arrow FGASA & SASSETA
FGASA Certification

FGASA Certification (applicable to Field Guide and Trails Guide courses)

Learners and FGASA
The EcoTraining courses are endorsed by the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). Some learners attend our courses for the experience, while some do this for their careers in Field Guiding. All learners have an option to register with FGASA or not to.

1. Registration with FGASA: If you register with FGASA, you can write the FGASA exam and do the assessment at the end of the course and receive a FGASA qualification in Field Guide Level 1. This is a MUST for students that want to do this for a career.

If registering with FGASA, you need to take note of the following:
• If you register with FGASA it is imperative that you send us your FGASA membership number.
• Payment of all fees must be made directly to FGASA.
• Also note that if you want to write the FGASA exam and do the assessment, we need 21 days notification before the course starts to arrange the necessary exams with FGASA.
• Any learner who has not paid their current annual subscription and relevant examination fee will not be allowed to write their FGASA theory exam or do their practical assessment.
• On completion of the theory exam, it will be marked by the EcoTraining Instructor. If the participant has passed the theory s/he will be allowed to undergo the FGASA practical assessment.
• After it has been marked at the EcoTraining camp, it is sent to FGASA for moderation, so the mark you receive at camp is not the final mark until confirmed by FGASA!
• The pass mark for the FGASA theory exam is 75%
• FGASA will only issue your FGASA level 1 certificate if you have valid first aid qualification!

2. Non-registration: If you do not register with FGASA, you cannot write the FGASA exam and do the assessment at the end of the course. You will complete the EcoTraining test and assessment and receive an EcoTraining certificate at the end of the course. The pass mark for the EcoTraining theory exam is also 75%

New members:
Tel:  +27 (0)11 886 8245
Email:  membership@fgasa.org.za
 

Exams:
Tel:   +27 (0)11 886 8245
Email:  exams@fgasa.org.za

Website: www.fgasa.org.za


Please enquire with us for a comprehensive guide to both the above requirements.


SASSETA (applicable to Trails Guide courses only)

Due to the legal and professional requirements of being a Field Guide, there are certain steps that any student wishing to do firearms training is required to do. It is a lengthy process to get everything accredited and certified with the correct institutions, but these need to be done as you could be held responsible if anything happened to go wrong and you do not have the correct paperwork. Also, there are requirements that have to be met before being allowed to attend the EcoTraining courses.

NB: If any students want to do rifle handling on an EcoTraining course, then a SASSETA certificate is a MUST!  Students can still attend the courses if they don't have SASSETA, but will not be able to participate in the rifle handling.

TO BE DONE SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR ECOTRAINING COURSE: At the SASSETA office you need to successfully complete the following:
1. Unit standard no.117705 - A test on the law – Demonstrate knowledge of the firearms control Act 60 of 2000.
2. Unit standard no. 119651- Basic Handling of a Rifle - Manually operated - Bolt Action rifles.

 

Click here to download more information on SASSETA