Climate change a reality to contend with

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GEORGE NEWS AND VIDEO - Climate change is a reality and ways should be looked at how to deal with it.

That was the message at the Garden Route fire commemoration event and climate change indaba that took place last Friday, 7 June, in Wilderness, exactly two years after Knysna and Plettenberg Bay were fighting the worst fire disaster in local history.

The event was organised by the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) and the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF).

In his welcoming address Monde Stratu, GRDM municipal manager, remembered that day. Early on the morning of 7 June he received a phone call informing him that he couldn't travel to George as the N2 was closed because of fires. This came as a surprise, because people were expecting rain storms. Only later did the magnitudes of the fires, which changed the whole outlook of the Southern Cape, become known.

Stratu said that there are people who don't believe in climate change, but the reality is that the climate is not the same anymore. The Western Cape is affected. Fire is natural and can't be wished away. "We must be better prepared."

Memory Booysen, GRDM Mayor, said 7 June is a date that people in the Southern Cape should and must remember for as long as they live. The fires that raged through Rheenendal, Knysna and the Plettenberg Bay region in June 2017 were the most severe and devastating in living memory. He mentioned that the landscape has recovered amazingly well. Now, two years later, even a visitor familiar with the area could be excused for being unable to point out the areas where the wild fires raged.

According to Booysen the question is if anything has been learnt from the disaster and if the community is better prepared to deal with a repeat of the 2017 wild fire.

He said that, from a disaster management point of view, he has no doubt that the region is better prepared, with considerably more resources at hand at all levels.

Booysen said climate change is a relentless process and that people have to start understanding the new future if they intend to survive the challenges that it may bring.

Agriculture
Dr Ilse Trautmann, chief director of research and technology development at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, warned of the dangers climate change holds for agriculture. Changes such as droughts will affect the three important pillars of agriculture - soil, water and climate.

People are here to protect the planet for their children and they must be aware of what they leave behind for their children.

She emphasised, however, that climate change is not only doom and gloom. If we look at how people reacted after the fires, climate change should be something people are excited about.

Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) told the George Herald that climate change could have an impact on the economic prosperity and living standards in the Southern Cape. "We strive to have a better quality and cleaner environment." This includes the keeping of water resources, biodiversity and looking at activities in the agriculture sector. According to him much more can be done to address the situation.

Watch a video below.