Yonela Sipeka serves as the Water and Stewardship Lead at Environmental and Rural Solutions (ERS). He holds a Diploma in Nature Conservation from the University of South Africa and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Management at UNISA. 

Yonela’s professional background includes working with the Endangered Wildlife Trust and completing a 4-month environmental education internship with the International Crane Foundation in the USA in 2018. He joined ERS full-time immediately after this internship.

 He provides programme leadership for stewardship activities linked to ERS’s biodiversity and restoration projects, working with conservation agencies, partner NGOs, and local and traditional leadership. Additionally, Yonela leads community water projects, working closely with the EcoChamps and community leadership.

Yonela possesses basic GIS and citizen science skills, which support much of the Monitoring and Evaluation work aimed at catchment restoration.