Robert D. Dyer

Robert Darren Dyer is a member of the South African Wildlife Society and of his school's conservation club project "Catchment Conservation in the Umhlatuzana Basin".

He has received the following awards: Conservationist of the Year Award (Wildlife Society); National Audi Innovators for the Environment Award; M-Net Green Trust Award; Winner of Natal Bisonbord Environmental Symposium; Winner of National Enviro OK Youth Symposium.

His project's aim is to: plant vegetation on the banks of all the Umhlatuzana catchment rivers; remove alien invader plants and replace them with indigenous species; educate user groups to conserve top soil; establish Umhlatuzana catchment conservancies; uplift the using standards of less fortunate communities.

He is involved in awareness campaigns via lectures, exhibitions, posters, public addresses, publications, radio and TV programmes, brochures and competitions and in 1993 he established a youth club, involving more than 100 pupils from at least 12 schools. He holds bi-monthly "river days" and attends awareness weekends at selected nature reserves.

He established a nursery on school grounds; repaired degraded river banks along an 87 km stretch of the Umhlatuzana river and its tributaries. He holds monthly meetings to identify problems and works on joint solutions so that communities become empowered by their own achievements.