African Wildlife & Environment Issue 78

WESSA BRANCHES

Kat Rivier clean up with NMU students

Many outings involved other environmental organisations with the emphasis on knowledge sharing on topics ranging from botany and biodiversity, the contentious issue of fracking and how to get off the grid. Many tours provided the host organisation with some funding. Coastal and river clean-ups have invariably been team efforts with other organisations. The outings are now catering for the advancing age of our membership with many retirees in the area and trips are not as strenuous as in earlier years! But we keep the grey cells going! The Garden Route Botanical Garden is an entity remarkably close to our hearts, and since the building of the Environmental Education Centre was completed in 2017, various supportive measures have been taken which vary from financial support to assisting in Science Week. WESSA Eden assisted with the start-up of the Kos en Fynbos programme in one suburb of George. This programme has gathered tremendous momentum and expanded to several other suburbs with, exemplary sharing of knowledge and experience to further the end of food security. See www.facebook.com/ kosenfynbos

The City Nature Challenge where Cape Town has led the way in South Africa now has serious competition from the Garden Route. The COVID-19 Lockdown in 2020 was a handicap, but we hope that more participants can be motivated in 2021. Here again, networking is the answer to success.

WESSA's demo house at science week (2016)

For more information wessageorge@isat.co.za www.facebook.com/wessa.eden

50 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 78 (2021)