At 25, Erika is Cape Town’s youngest Area Manager. Like many young people she loves reading, movies and clothes. Erika sees her career in nature conservation as a calling, not just a job. She enjoys working in a team, and the fact that every day is different: from one moment to the next you could be out in the veld observing animals, attending a meeting in the City, fixing the plumbing, preparing a presentation on the uses of indigenous plants, fighting a fire on the reserve, or arresting a poacher. Nature conservation is Erika’s passion and she knows that she is making a positive difference.

Sometimes conservation can be very challenging but Erika gets through those times by being positive and having a sense of humour. She jokes that she has a very responsible job: “Everything that goes wrong I’m responsible for.”