Twenty conservation graduates have just landed their first dream jobs. A spare laptop could help them ace it!
South Africa (16 October 2026) – Twenty bright, passionate young graduates have officially stepped into the world of conservation, ready to protect our planet and inspire the next generation. But they need a little help from us to make their journeys possible!
On 8 October, the cohort began an exciting year-long internship with Nature Connect in Cape Town. They all studied nature conservation or marine science, and now they get to put it to work.
Over the next twelve months, they’ll teach children in schools, run nature camps, look after green spaces in the city and support conservation groups across Cape Town. One day, they might become the people who will help the next generation fall in love with nature, and may even lead the conservation sector.
A first job like this opens incredible doors. Youth unemployment among 15 to 24-year-olds in South Africa is 60.9%. Real work experience and a good mentor can change that for a young person. Joining Nature Connect as interns, these graduates have everything they need to launch bright careers in conservation…except for one essential tool.
Each intern keeps a daily timesheet, writes a monthly logbook, builds a development plan with a mentor and gathers a portfolio of evidence that counts towards the completion of their internship. That record-keeping, along with the reports, research and communication that fill a working week, needs a laptop.
Nature Connect is asking South Africans for help.
“These graduates have already done the hard part: they have earned their qualifications and found their first workplace opportunity,” said Dr Anthony Roberts, CEO of Nature Connect. “Businesses in South Africa may be holding laptops they no longer need, and in a young conservationist’s hands that device becomes a working tool for the next twelve months. We would be grateful to hear from anyone who can help.”
If you, your business or your organisation has a working laptop gathering dust, it could be the thing that carries a young conservationist through their first year!
The organisation is looking for working laptops that come with a charger that are ideally less than three years old. Every laptop will be securely wiped before it’s handed over, and recorded on Nature Connect’s asset register.
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You can drop laptops off at Nature Connect, Unit 3B, Tokai On Main Office Park, 2 Burchell Street, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966. For questions, email [email protected].
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