The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), through the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Programme (PLCM), organised an induction event for interns selected for the 3rd edition of the pre-professional internship programme, which took place on 9 February 2022, in Maputo city, with the participation of representatives of the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), the National Forestry Directorate (DINAF) and the National Sustainable Development Fund (FNDS).

In the present edition, 27 young people from higher education and technical and professional education, recently trained in multi-disciplinary areas, were selected out or more than 1,500 candidates from all provinces in the country, to undertake their pre-professional internships in conservation institutions at central level (BIOFUND, ANAC, DINAF and WCS) and in some public and private Conservation Areas for 6 months, which may be extended for a further 6 months. The interns in this edition are 13 young women and 14 men.

The Executive Director of BIOFUND, Luís Bernardo Honwana, welcomed the new interns, saying that each intern should contribute to the requalification of the natural resources in the Conservation Areas. He stated that “With your different areas of training, you, as young people, are challenged today to bring solutions to the problems existing in the internship centres, and will be integrated as part of the army in the battle for the conservation of biodiversity”.

For one of those benefitting from the internship, this is an unequalled opportunity to develop a career in the area of Conservation. “I always dreamed of working in conservation and the PLCM is a window of entry into a world that will allow me to apply my knowledge for the development of sustainable programmes for the community, and that are favourable to biodiversity”, stressed Érica Canda, a young woman trained in biology, and allocated to the community development sector of Cape São Sebastião, in Inhambane province.

Since the 1st edition of the PLCM internship programme, 103 interns have been trained in the conservation sector, of whom 42 are women and 61 are men.

The PLCM is a capacity building and leadership programme financed by the World Bank through the MozBio2 programme, and implemented by BIOFUND, in collaboration with ANAC. The goals of this programme are to strengthen the capacity and skills of the professionals of the National System of Conservation Areas (SNAC), shape the profile of the future leaders of conservation and attract the public in general to the conservation of biodiversity in Mozambique. For more information, visit the pages of the programme on the website  and on facebook.