GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Touw River Conservancy hosted another networking, educational and public awareness event focused on a variety of fascinating conservation and nature-related topics.
The event at The Fairy Knowe Hotel in Wilderness on 2 March, dubbed "Conversations in Conservation", offered a platform for local experts to share their knowledge with the general public, who got an opportunity to engage with them on a range of conservation topics.
Various causes highlighted
Six experts spoke on a variety of topics and they included Louw Claassens from the Knysna Basin Project speaking on the endangered Knysna seahorse; Melanie de Morney from SA National Parks (Sanparks) speaking on the current population status of the African crested eagle, a species of special concern, and Cobus Meiring of the Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI) and the Garden Route Environmental Forum on the topic of assisting landowners with conservation projects with the support from the Table Mountain Fund and SCLI.
'Topics specific to our region'
Matthew Koehorst, Chairperson of the conservancy said,
"We want to create an opportunity for members of the public to gather and engage on a broad range of environmental topics specific to our region."
Other organisations represented included the Precious Tree Project, Greenpop, the George Botanical Gardens, the Landmark Foundation and the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA.
'Conversation market'
There was also a "conversation market" where attendees could chat and connect with a range of local environmental businesses, NGOs and other programmes, including an environmental art stand, local contractors and citizen science and mapping projects.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route news'
