The campaign, which commenced in Port Elizabeth on 12 October, 2011 will see the SST team visit over 20 coastal towns on its way from Sodwana to Saldanha, collecting pledges from people, business and institutions who intend to increase their efforts at preserving our marine environments.
With the impending COP 17 climate change convention set to occur in Durban next month (28 November - 9 December 2011), the aim of the SST SEA Pledge Coastal road Tour is to illustrate to all South Africans the impact that we are having upon our oceans and the environment, as well as the importance of us living sustainable lives. SST aspires to collect pledges from all of South Africa in which people undertake to set and achieve goals that will reduce their negative environmental footprints and increase their positive environmental handprints.
SEA Pledges can take many forms, and these include: written, spoken, photographic, video or monetary commitments to behaviour that will positively affect the environment and measurably improve the manner in which people treat the environment. Pledges can also be financial, and all funds go to charitable causes.
At each venue on the SEA Pledge Coastal Road Tour Dr. AJ Ribbink, Director of the Sustainable Seas Trust and primary champion of the South East African Climate Consortium (SEACC), will speak about the fundamentally important issues in Southern Africa, particularly those encountered by impoverished coastal communities, in the face of climate change. Other issues which are addressed at each SEA Pledge include increasing the awareness about the need for education and skills training in coastal communities that depend primarily on subsistence fishing, illustrating that the limits of what we put into and take out of the ocean are being exceeded, as well as the importance of the restoration of the coastal resources and ecosystem goods and services upon which people depend.
After the Plettenberg Bay stopover on 3 November, the SST SEA Pledge team will be visiting the following towns and cities: Knysna (4 November), Hermanus (6 November), Cape Town (7-9 November), Saldanha (10 November), Mossel Bay (14 November). In every town, the team endeavours to have the Mayor officially put the location on the SEA Pledge Map to show the community support and involvement in this important crusade. Read the full report here.
Source: East Coast Radio.
