Newsletter: 1st Edition
Royal visit to the academy
In the last week of November, the WFA was honoured by a visit from princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. The princess was impressed by the work we do at the Academy. She will personally commit to realizing WFA’s mission goals and initiating collaboration between the royal family and the foundation. We were delighted by her visit and hope to stay in touch.
US Homeland Security
Combatting wildlife trafficking requires high level involvement of National Security Services worldwide. In August 2023 WFA's founder Andro Vos met with US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the US Embassy in Brussels where both parties agreed to explore opportunities for more formal lines of communication.
WFA is beyond excited about the opportunity to continue working with Homeland Security and to share valuable learnings on this subject. The first group of HSI agents has already spent two weeks at our Cape Town Academy to complete a wildlife forensic training course which included lectures, practical trainings and educational excursions. We are looking forward to welcoming more HSI agents next year.
Frontiers of Forensic Science Lecture
On October 6th, WFA conducted a lecture as a part of the “Frontiers of Forensic Science” lecture series organized by the Co van Ledden Hulsebosch Center (CLHC). The CLHC is a Dutch interdisciplinary organisation for forensic scientific and medical research. Addressing 120 forensic experts and students, WFA’s CEO Andro Vos shared his inspirational story and delved into the severity of wildlife crime as a worldwide problem. Greg Simpson, WFA’s in-house veterinarian and lecturer virtually showed the audience in Amsterdam around the Cape Town academy and introduced the team. Former WFA interns Noa van Haandel (Saxion University of Applied Sciences) and Thomas Shehata (University of Amsterdam) presented their respective scientific research which they conducted at WFA. It was an exciting afternoon with many new insights and new connections. Many thanks to the UvA, CLHC, as well as Noa and Thomas for their contribution in supporting WFA’s mission to educate.
New course program combines the fields of wildlife crime and zoonotic diseases
WFA is joining forces with Dutch partners The Cirion Foundation, Erasmus MC and Nyenrode Business University in the development of a postgraduate masterclass program. The joint program will integrate management and leadership skills, wildlife forensics and control of infectious zoonotic diseases. The Cirion Foundation is specialised in coordinating education and training for the prevention of viral diseases. Students will have the opportunity to dive deep into topics such as general wildlife knowledge, wildlife crime and wildlife forensics. We are excited about developing this masterclass and will let you know as soon as it’s available.
Student learning project FishFORCE forensics
The FishFORCE Fisheries Law Enforcement Academy from the Nelson Mandela University of South Africa offers a 3 year diploma in law enforcement. It also offers short learning programmes to fishery control officers. In collaboration with the WFA, FishFORCE will add a forensics course to their program in 2024. WFA and FishFORCE have specifically designed the new course for the fisheries law enforcement environment.
Upcoming: The design thinking leadership executive programme
Between 19 and 23 November, WFA hosted the very first Leadership and Design Thinking course. The course is set up in cooperation with Prof. dr. Desirée van Gorp (Nyenrode Business University) and professor Erwin Schwella’s Civinovus group . Twelve upcoming business leaders spent five days at the academy to learn how to tackle interdisciplinary problems related to sustainable wildlife. The traditional South-African Ubuntu leadership philosophy is fundamental throughout the course. Ubuntu revolves around the notion that our humanity is entwined with the humanity of others; ‘I am because we are’. Derived from this are the three main pillars of the Leadership course: ecological integrity, compassion and sustainability. Ubuntu-based leadership skills are critical in fighting wildlife crime. The pilot training was very successful and will be continued into a permanent new course programme.
Read more about the Ubuntu philosophy here.