Impact assessment and sustainability of forest restoration programs in South Africa
Here’s an exciting opportunity to gain field experience in the impact assessment and sustainability of forest restoration programs in South Africa. Applications are now open for August – October 2023!
You’ll join Greenpop, a nonprofit organization on a mission to green communities, restore and protect forests, and spread environmental activism. As an intern on this program, you’ll be part of Greenpop’s ‘Forests for Life’ program in South Africa, and you’ll assist in both preparations of a reforestation festival and the impact assessment of past forest restoration work. You’ll spend two months in Cape Town, at Greenpop’s headquarters, and one month on the road, visiting reforestation sites and assisting with monitoring and evaluation activities.
This internship is a wonderful opportunity for students of fields such Land Management, Ecology, or Forestry to gain varied and hands-on experience in forest restoration work – and be part of a passionate team of experts.
Learning outcomes of this forest management internship;
- Insights into forest management in a South African context
- Experience in data collection and assessment
- A thorough understanding of the planning, coordination and evaluation of reforestation projects
- Practical experience in monitoring and evaluation of nonprofit work
- International work experience
QUICK FACTS
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Cape Town, South Africa |
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Environmental NGO |
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Facilitation, Research, Reporting, Monitoring, Education, Tree planting |
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8 Weeks |
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Varies |
ORGANISATION
Greenpop is a nonprofit organization that runs urban greening, reforestation, and eco-education projects. Based from Cape Town, South Africa, Greenpop plants trees and creates gardens at schools in underprivileged areas and works to regenerate indigenous forests throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. And as part of their mission to encourage a treevolution, the organization has a strong focus on activating people – both Africans and people from around the world – to participate in their projects.
Greenpop is motivated by the vision of a world in which people and nature thrive together. Since they kickstarted their programs in 2010, the team has planted over 190,000 trees and activated over 300,000 citizens to get active in protecting their environment.
TASKS & REQUIREMENTS
What you’ll do
Your key activities during this reforestation internship will be:
- Conduct annual monitoring at all active projects. In the two to three weeks field work trip, you will visit 6 different locations, and monitor 27 individual sites along the Garden Route
- Assist with planting workshop and plant day facilitation
- Curation and analysis of Monitoring & Evaluation data collected (along with historical data)
- Review and update Best Practice Guidelines
More specifically, this will be your Internship timeline:
- Month 1;
- Monitoring & Evaluation preparations for the fieldwork, which includes getting forms and equipment ready and scheduling field visits
- Monitoring & Evaluation fieldwork
- Month 2:
- Data digitization & curation of spreadsheets
- Further Monitoring & Evaluation field work
- Coordination support of reforestation festival, which includes planting workshops and tree planting facilitation
- Month 3:
- Data analysis and reporting
- Final report on M&E data
- Update Best Practice Guidelines
- Gathering feedback and creating recommendations
Requirements
- Background in Ecology, Natural Sciences, Data management, Natural Resource Management or Forestry
- Familiarity with statistical analysis programs and strong data management skills
- Willingness to spend long hours in the field to collect data
- Willingness to be traveling for about one month of the internship
- Good social skills and ability to work in a small group for extended periods
- Basic knowledge of ecological issues/concepts
- Available from August-October 2023. Extending your internship after October is possible.
WHERE YOU’LL STAY
You’ll be staying at the Lenox, a comfortable guest house in the heart of Cape Town. Built in the old Cape Dutch style, the Lenox is characterful and spacious. It has a garden with a barbeque area, a large dining room, and several other communal spaces. Shared bedrooms take four to eight people, and there are plenty of single rooms available as well (at an extra fee). You’ll be walking distance from a wide range of shops, cafes and restaurants, and at a great spot for some of the touristy highlights Cape Town has to offer as well. (As well as for views of Table Mountain!)
While you’re on the road with the Greenpop team, you’ll stay at the various reforestation sites with the other team members. Depending on the site, this can be camping or shared accommodation.
DATES & RATES
This internship is available for the period August-October 2023. If you prefer to do an internship for longer than three months, you can add on extra time.
What you’ll pay (2023 rates)
3 MONTHS USD 2,382
4 MONTHS USD 2,949
5 MONTHS USD 3,517
6 MONTHS USD 4,084
What you are paying for:
- Transfer from Cape Town International airport to your accommodation and back on arrival and departure day
- Accommodation based on a shared room (2 pax). If you prefer a single room, please contact us for availability and prices. NB. During field work you stay at reforestation sites (either camping or shared accommodation)
- Two meals (breakfast and dinner) a day from Monday to Friday
- Assistance with your visa arrangement & other preparations
- On the ground support during your stay
- Free Wifi
- Assistance with finding the perfect work placement
- Supervision during your internship
- Check-in and feedback as well as a reference letter after your internship
- Your own account on a career development platform that offers content and courses focused on exploring different career opportunities
- Reference letter at the end of your internship
- A discount on weekend activities, exclusive to Roots interns
Excludes:
- Flights
- Visa, medical and travel insurance costs for the duration of your placement – must include cover for repatriation
- Lunch, drinks, snacks, and items of personal nature (f.e. curios, gifts, clothing)
- Meals during the weekend
- Transport to the office
- Costs for additional excursions or activities
Optional extra:
Personal Development Sessions
To help you optimise your personal and professional development during your internship, we offer individual monthly sessions with a professional consultant. These 1,5-hour sessions offer opportunities to set goals, reflect on your experience, and ensure your internship will benefit your career as much as possible.
Monthly fee: USD 65
Workshop: Exploring the Nonprofit Landscape
To give you a full understanding of the nonprofit sector in Africa, we offer one-off individual online workshops by a South African digital marketing and fundraising specialist. You’ll learn about the needs of the nonprofit sector, best practices in nonprofit management, and sustainability of fundraising initiatives. You’ll also be given a large amount of useful resources.
Workshop fee: USD 65
QUICK FACTS
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Cape Town, South Africa |
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Environmental NGO |
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Monitoring, Evaluation, Data Analysis, Reporting, Reforestation |
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Aug-Oct 2023 |
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USD 2,382 |
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
”This internship helped me understand there's are good people making a practical difference to help our world. I learnt that I would LOVE, absolutely LOVE to work for Greenpop or a similar company in the future. I was trusted with a variety of tasks and projects that I thought would be above my experience. I was thankful for the trust that was put upon me and how I was treated as a member of the team and not just and intern. We are all treated with equals and everyone is kind and speaks clearly to get the job done. I also learnt a lot about plants and fynbos which was my intention and I am grateful for that. I want to incorporate fynbos into my agricultural future one day and this has definitely helped me stay on path towards my end goals.
Brandon, South AfricaUrban Greening Internship
INTERNSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
- Get field-based experience in monitoring and evaluation of forest restoration projects in South Africa
- Help prepare and coordinate a large reforestation event
- Get involved in collecting and analyzing data as part of impact assessment
- Be part of a dedicated and passionate team doing important environmental management work
- Spend a month on the road, visiting various reforestation sites in stunning settings
- Live and work in Cape Town, arguably the coolest city in the world
3 MONTHS USD 2,382
HOW TO APPLY
If you’re ready to apply for this internship, here’s what to do:
APPLY
Fill in the application form (it will show in a new screen) which includes sharing your CV with us.
SPEAK WITH AN ADVISOR
We’ll set up a call with you to go through your application.
INTERNSHIP MATCHING
If we feel it’s a good match, we’ll set up a call between you and the supervisor for this internship.
CONFIRMATION
If everyone’s happy, we’ll provisionally confirm your placement! We’ll then send you all the information you need.
PAYMENT
We’ll then send you the invoice for the deposit. Only once we receive payment of the deposit your placement will be confirmed.
NEED TO MAKE AN ENQUIRY FIRST?
Or if you’d just like to ask us some questions about this internship first, just fill in the contact form below. We’ll be happy to assist!
