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Formerly known as SATIB Conservation Trust
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Nature in the Classroom

Welcome to SACTs rural education program.

Our ‘Vusa the Guardian’ series of educational comic book titles (see species options below) are designed to teach children in rural schools surrounding wildlife protected areas about the importance of conserving their natural heritage and the natural behavior of various wild animals.

To view a summary of each comic and flip through the pages online, simply click on the comic title below (opens a new browser window).

Educational comic book, "Vusa the Elephant Guardian-2025," from the Southern African Conservation Trust. It tells the story of a boy named Vusa and the lessons he learns about elephants as "gardeners" and "water finders," their social complexity, and conservation methods like using chili bricks and beehive fences to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

SACT provides these comics to various rural schools and communities as a free service to promote our “Nature to the Classrooms” initiative. As part of this effort, SACT has successfully produced and printed 140,000 comics. As of January 2026, we have distributed in excess of 110,000 comics in rural schools across Southern Africa (see graph and distribution details below).

Sponsorship and Printing Opportunities

For our donors and sponsors, the comic publications are protected by copyright. However, if you wish to print a quantity of our comics, we are happy to supply you or your company with the original high-resolution artwork. This artwork can be customized to include your company/organization logo on the cover and on the inside front or back cover, along with a custom message from you to the learners as a sponsor/donor. This option allows you to print the comics locally in your country.

If you would like the rights to print your own comics for local use, please contact Brian Courtenay at `brian@sactrust.org` or Des Langkilde at `des@sactrust.org` for a quotation.

Alternative Support

Alternatively, you may wish to make a donation to SACT as part of your corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, or make a direct cash donation to support rural school children’s education through our “Nature in the Classroom” initiative. As we say, “Education today is the currency of tomorrow!”

DONATE

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING THIS WORTHY CAUSE.

Education is vital in rural areas lacking resources. We will confirm receipt of your funds/donation and confirm their utilization specifically for this program.

Southern African Conservation Trust Board of Trustees

BP Courtenay (Chair), A Courtenay, GP Courtenay , WD Forrester, Dr M Hofmeyr, D Llewelyn (AU) AR Pinfold, Dr D Rosen (USA), SE Matthias (UK), R Venturini (Brazil). Scientific Advisor: Dr M. Hofmeyr, Veterinarian. Compliance and fiduciary officer: B Courtenay.

Registration numbers: SACT Public Benefit Organization registered with SARS: PBO 930039588, and Registered Trust IT 18/2012PMB