Samantha de la Fontaine grew up in Upington in the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. She completed both her undergraduate (4 year BSc in Conservation Ecology in 2010) and postgraduate degrees (MSc in Conservation Ecology in 2013) at the University of Stellenbosch. She was appointed as a Groen Sebenza intern in 2013 with the former Department of Environment and Nature Conservation (DENC) where after she was later absorbed by the same Department in 2015. Currently appointed as the District Ecologist and based in Upington, her work includes providing recommendations on Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIRs) and biodiversity permit applications for proposed developments (including renewable energy, mining, utility and power supply, farming, etc.) based on scientific information and knowledge as part of conservation management. Furthermore, her position also entails reviewing literature and interpreting ecological research that will enable the Department to improve and develop sound policies to advance its ability to ensure sustainable development (e.g. protected area expansion, community-based conservation matters, etc.). All of the above-mentioned is done in order for the Department to carry out its mandate, that is, to ensure the conservation of ecosystems, ecosystem services and sustainable resource use and development. Samantha is quite passionate about conservation and her goal is to advance in this exciting and challenging field, and to find new solutions to present environmental issues.

Jacoline Mans grew up in the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. She studied at Stellenbosch University (B.Sc Forestry; M. Phil Environmental Management) and started working at the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) in 1999 as the manager of Upington State Nursery, cultivating about 400 000 trees per annum. She was later promoted to Chief Forester and is currently working for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). Jacoline is responsible for the issuing of Forest Act Licences in the Northern Cape Province and comment on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) affecting protected trees. She works with biodiversity offsets triggered under Environmental Authorisations (EA’s) in the arid regions of South Africa. In 2009, she spent two months at the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in Lanzhou, China. One of her key performance areas is to raise awareness about protected trees in the Northern Cape. n 2020, she assisted the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) with the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA 2020). Jacoline is passionate about her work and has published a few articles in popular magazines like Veld and Flora and the S.A. Forestry Magazine. Conservation of the natural environment is a high priority and she always seek opportunities to visit places in South Africa and abroad.