Organised by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), in partnership with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), the workshop was held in a virtual format on 2 March 2021 and counted on the participation of all the interns of the Programme for Conservation Leadership of Mozambique (PLCM).

Under the theme “The Role and Involvement of Youth in the Conservation of Biodiversity in Mozambique”, the event sought to gather the experiences lived by young people during various conservation activities, as well as sharing lessons learnt and challenges faced to strengthen their careers.

The young interns and other professionals of the sector attending the event swapped experiences and reflected on themes about leadership and community involvement versus success in the conservation sector, as well as the role of young people and the challenges of gender in the conservation of biodiversity in Mozambique. The interns stressed the added value that the programme has brought to their professional careers and its contribution towards improving systems and processes in the internship centres where they have been placed, and in developing the conservation sector in general.

Célio Macheieie, trained in Marine Chemistry and a beneficiary of the programme, stressed that the internship programme awoke within him a greater interest for the conservation sector. “From my training I never thought of working in conservation but, after the PLCM internship, I felt motivated to develop my professional career in this sector”, said this intern.

One of the most striking moments of the ceremony was the election of the PCLM Young Leader of the Year 2020, through a vote of all the interns. The prize, which seeks to distinguish and recognize the young person who has stood out the most during the development of various activities in defence of the conservation of biodiversity was awarded to Natércia Parruque, an intern in the BIOFUND Communication Area. On this occasion, Natércia Parruque said that this recognition has awoken still further her interest in working for the conservation of biodiversity.

There were 19 young people trained in various areas of knowledge, who have been integrated into four Conservation Areas, namely the Banhine National Park, the Limpopo National Park, the Zinave National Park, and the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park, and four conservation institutions in the country (BIOFUND, ANAC, WWF Mozambique and Centro Terra Viva), which have participated in this marathon during a period of 6 to 12 months, in this first edition of the PLCM internship programme. We would like to stress and thank the commitment of the supervisors and support terms in the various places where the internships were held, who were crucial for the success of this 1st edition of PLCM internships!

The PLCM is a programme within the MozBio 2 project (financed by the World Bank/MozBio/IDA during the 2019-2024 period). Its purpose is to raise the capacity of the professionals of the national system of conservation areas, to motivate and attract qualified young people to the conservation system and to attract the public, and young people in particular, to the network of the conservation community.