Month: April 2020

Request for Assistance – a community in need

WILDLANDS has been active in the community that borders the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve for many years, working on various projects with the community leadership. This included support to the community to safeguard them from the negative effects of mining and support for livelihoods. Recently we have funded, through the WILDSERIES Imfolozi MTB Challenge, the development of local businesses and secured contracts for tourism facilities to be upgraded inside the Hluhluwe -iMfolozi Park.

Kirsten Youens, friend and partner of the WILDTRUST and passionate environmental and climate justice lawyer, is trying to raise funds to purchase food parcels for distribution in this community – and we wanted to share a message from her below. We realise that there are countless requests for assistance at this time, but if you are in the position to donate, if 200 people donate R200 each – we can help reach the R40 000 fundraising goal.

“As many of you know I have been working with a community organisation in Zululand called the iMfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation. They are a group of over 4000 people living on the border of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game reserve, and next to the Somkhele open cast coal mine. I have been representing them in environmental justice issues since 2014.

Living next to a coal mine has made life very difficult for this previously self-sufficient rural farming community for the past 13 years, but the Covid-19 lockdown has brought things to a crisis point. Those who survived from day to day, like roadside vendors, small Spaza owners, domestic workers and breadwinners supporting extended families have been hit hard. Water and food have always been limited here but with the few breadwinners not allowed to work, there is even less. There are approximately one hundred families from this community in dire need. I have decided to reach out to all of you in the hope that you will help this incredibly courageous and long-suffering community in these desperate times.

We estimate parcels of food and water will cost in the region of R400 each and aim to provide for 100 families – making our fundraising goal R40 000. This means if 200 people contribute R200 each we will reach our goal.

If you would like to and are able to donate, here is the link to our non-profit donation page:
http://www.allrise.org.za/donate.html
A Zapper option is also available.

Please note that while the government has been distributing essentials across the country, and our clients have applied through these channels, nothing has been received so far and we are not aware of any plans to distribute to this specific community – especially with the urgency needed.

Thank you in advance for your consideration to help others at this time. I realise there are countless requests for assistance – so anything you are willing and able to contribute would be so appreciated.

Waste Trapping Innovation and Partnership benefitting Durban Port

WILDOCEANS, the marine conservation programme of the WILDTRUST, recently received a funding grant from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities (MARPLASTICCS) initiative to launch a project that aims to explore alternative ways to stop plastic from making its way into the marine environment while creating youth employment opportunities.
Although marine plastic pollution is a global problem, it demands regional and local solutions that are tailored to the different sources and pathways of plastic flows into the ocean. With its Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities initiative – a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IUCN has extended this programmatic approach to the Eastern and Southern Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

Durban Port (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) is a modern, well-equipped and highly industrialized port and one of the busiest in Africa. However, the port also acts as a trap for plastic waste, carried along the rivers and storm water canals that flow into the port.

This initiative which officially began in November 2019, will be piloted within the Durban Port and will build on the already established Blue Port and Adopt-a-River projects and allow WILDOCEANS to trial plastic stoppage techniques in the port through core interventions. These interventions include innovative waste trapping at five sites, where additional low-cost technology interventions will collect as much surface plastic waste as possible.

Speaking about the project, Siraj Paruk Transnet National Ports Authority, responsible for the safe, effective and efficient economic functioning of the national port system said, “The project provides a great opportunity to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic activities within the catchment of the port and further contribute towards enhancing the resilience and ecological functioning of the estuarine system.

“This will take the Blue Port project to another level, unlocking new techniques to identify and stop plastic leakage, as well as encouraging youth employment and ultimately working towards restoring the Durban Port to a healthy functioning ecosystem. We have a lot to learn from the MARPLASTICCS initiative and hope that this is a partnership that leads to bigger projects in South Africa and the West Indian Ocean.”

Acknowledging the strategic partnership with WILDOCEANS, Peter Manyara, the MARPLASTICCs Project Coordinator for the Eastern and Southern Africa region added, “we very much look forward to the results of project which aims to strengthen local capacities and action to control plastic pollution. This project, implemented in parallel with similar actions in Kenya, Mozambique, Thailand and Vietnam will enable us derive important lessons on what works in reducing or avoiding plastic leakage at the local level, and also help us understand factors that help or hinder success or failure in implementing circular actions at a small scale. The lessons learnt will help inform other related leakage reduction initiatives in the Western Indian Ocean and elsewhere”.

In partnership with Nedbank, DOW, Youth Employment Services (YES) and Grindrod Bank, the Blue Port project has expanded on the successes of the Blue Crew, increasing intensity through larger teams of 51 YES Blue Port placements working year-round within the port.

“Through strong collaboration with Transnet National Ports Authority, the low-cost technology and ease of scalability, this project makes for a good case-study that can be replicated in other ports, not only in South Africa but in other developing countries across the South West Indian Ocean region and globally, many of which exhibit the same degradation as a result of similar stresses placed on their sensitive ecosystems,” Commented Kramer.

A cell phone application will also be developed to allow for engagement amongst stakeholders in the port.
This project already feeds into the existing Durban Bay Estuarine Management Plan (EMP) prepared by the National Department of Environmental Affairs in collaboration with Transnet National Ports Authority, KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, eThekwini Municipality, Environmental Resources Management (ERM) and Marine & Estuarine Research (MER) as well as the Draft KZN Coastal Management Programme.

The objective of the EMP is to provide a new approach to management of the negative factors impacting the Durban port, including waste leakage, and provides a vehicle for cooperation, change and motivation for new appropriate solutions to these existing problems.