Page 15 - State of Biodiversity 2018/19

BIODIVERSITY ADVOCACY WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
AND CLIMATE PROTECTION DEPARTMENT (EPCPD)
Effectively protecting biodiversity at a local, national or global scale calls for the change in humanity’s mindset as we all interact with this life-sustaining element of the world, either directly or indirectly. This can be achieved by undertaking education and awareness programmes around biodiversity and its importance for the survival of human beings. Homeostasis has been poorly understood over the years; people still hold onto the belief that planet earth is capable of restoring any loss and quickly recovering from environmental degradation inflicted on it by human activities.This notion has failed to bring to light the harsh reality that nature needs time to recover.Without the luxury of an adequate amount of time, species go extinct and such occurrences are irreversible.Therefore, the Department continuously allocates resources towards advocating for biodiversity and the importance of conserving it for future generations with the hopes of changing people’s mindsets.
Some of the main groups that are targeted are community members from the Ingoyama Trust Board (ITB) areas, university students and high school learners.The EPCPD targets community members within the ITB areas because a large proportion of the biodiversity within eThekwini Municipality sits within these areas and it is, therefore, imperative to educate residents and primary users of the natural assets found there. Students are targeted with the hopes of catching them while they are young and selecting career paths in order to secure a pool of young, passionate individuals who will continue with the journey of advocating for biodiversity.
A few interactions undertaken in educating and raising awareness about biodiversity conservation occurred in the year 2018/2019. The Department hosted several biodiversity stewardship workshops within the ITB areas, which focused on D’MOSS awareness. In addition, as part of celebrating Youth Month, learners from Amatshezulu High School in Georgedale were taken on a tour of the Department’s Uitkomst site, which is a conservation area owned by the Municipality. Activities for the Youth Day event included lessons on wetland conservation, indigenous plant propagation and law enforcement strategies used when dealing with poaching and illegal sand mining as well as the importance of the nearby Uitkomst Conservation Area.
STATE OF BIODIVERSITY REPORT 2018/2019
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