Ms Umaymah Jattiem holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Environmental and Geographical Science, Sociology, and Gender Studies, from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In addition, she undertook, CPD Masters Level courses in Law of Conservation, Heritage Management and Development, as well as Conservation Disciplines and Practices at the University of Cape Town. Umaymah works across the EcoAfrica Group of Companies as Business Manager. She has over 11 years of experience as a Researcher and more than 9 years in Project Coordination and Management at EcoAfrica.
Umaymah’s areas of research experience includes conservation management and planning for protected areas, heritage and tourism development and management, disaster risk management, environmental assessments, local development and land reform, marine and coastal resources, and climate change. Umaymah has worked on developing Integrated Conservation Management Plans for Provincial, National and World Heritage Sites in South Africa and in developing environmental course materials for universities in both South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. In previous years, Umaymah was involved in the Distance Learning and Information Sharing Tool (DLIST), Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) and Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) projects focusing on knowledge management and information sharing along the east and west coasts of Africa. In 2011, she was involved in Translating the book Observations on Environment Change in South Africa into Long-term Policy Considerations for Sustainable Development, for the South African Observation Network (SAEON).
For Robben Island Museum and World Heritage Site, Umaymah was involved in several consultations. She was the Project Manager and Researcher for the 2nd and 3rd Integrated Conservation Management Plans 2013-2018 and 2018-2023, the Integrated Carrying Capacity Study 2017-2022, the Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan 2017-2021 as well as for the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) of Sludge Removal from Fuel Tanks and Relocation of Fuel Infrastructure on Robben Island.
Umaymah was the Task Manager and Consultant for the development of an Integrated Conservation Management Plan for the Castle of Good Hope National Heritage Site (2018). Furthermore, she assisted with the preparation of a Nomination Dossier of the ‡Khomani Cultural Landscape on the World Heritage List (2015-2017), successfully inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2018. Umaymah was also involved in the drafting of three Integrated Conservation Management Plans for the proposed Modern Human Origins World Heritage Sites, for Heritage Western Cape (2016), and specifically anchored the Pinnacle Point Site Complex ICMP. More recently, she was involved in the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site ICMP and the Sibhudu Cave IMP in South Africa.
Currently, Umaymah is the Task Manager for the preparation of an Overarching Heritage Impact Assessment and Visual Impact Assessment Report for eight projects in the Buffer Zone of the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Site in Mauritius, for the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage. In addition, she is the Task Manager for the development of a National Buffering Mechanism Policy for World Heritage Sites in South Africa.