PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS – The Nature's Valley Trust continues to benefit from the hard work they poured into fundraising initiatives in the early stages of the year, garnering more than R800 000 in the first quarter alone.
According to a press release issued on Friday 7 May, in the first three months of 2021 the trust raised R830 000 to utilise this year.
"To boost funding further we have submitted over ten project proposals covering the full range of our work and are confident that some of these will be successful," the statement reads.
"An additional boost to our fund-raising efforts was our 'Motion for the Ocean' campaign. Apart from securing R80 000's worth of donor income, it raised awareness about marine conservation and engendered a wonderful community spirit around our collective love of Nature's Valley and its surrounds."
NVT has also continued to strengthen its relationships with all of their key partners, including SANParks, Nature's Valley Residents' Association (NVRA), Bitou Municipality, Birdlife Plett, Plett Tourism, CapeNature, Magnetic South (Otter Trail Run) and Wessa.
They have also managed to secure R39 000 worth of project funding through Birdlife Plett and a further R50 000's worth of donor and project funding through Magnetic South.
Two Oceans Aquarium Educational Trust is a new strategic partner for NVT. "We recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in marine and coastal education in the Garden Route," the press release stated.
They have also roped in some more help with three temporary appointments for 2021. Lauren Moriarty has a Masters degree from NMU, David Krone has a postgraduate teaching diploma and is completing an honours degree at Stellenbosch and Monalisa Booysen is serving as a general assistant and Blue Flag Wessa intern. She is from Covie.
On the local front, practical outreach, NVT's conservation and research efforts continue. A few highlights:
• The white-fronted plover breeding season is at an end and preliminary results indicate that the breeding success on Nature's Valley's shoreline remains higher than Lookout Beach in Plett. NVT believes that this is a result of their conservation efforts combined with the beach ban over the festive season.
• The WWF Green Trust Marine Tourism Project has been successfully completed. A key finding is that boat-based whale and dolphin watching contributes R371-million to Plett's economy annually, highlighting the value of our natural resources.
• Thanks to the efforts of SANParks the clearing of alien invasive wattle in the Groot River catchment is almost complete. This will significantly reduce flood risk.
• As lockdown eases, NVT can engage directly with schools as part of its conservation education initiative.
• The new weather station is proving to be a popular and useful acquisition.
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