GEORGE NEWS - The Touw River Conservancy, a community group dedicated to supporting local landowners on conservation issues within and around the Touw river catchment in Wilderness, is hosting their third networking, educational and public awareness event focused on a variety of fascinating conservation and nature-related topics.
The conservancy's chairperson, Matthew Koehorst, says they 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, therefore the event is open to all members of the public.
The event, dubbed "Conversations in Conservation", will take place on Saturday 2 March from 09:00 until 14:00 at the Fairy Knowe Hotel in Wilderness. It offers a platform for local experts to share their knowledge with the general public and gives community members an opportunity to engage on a range of conservation topics.
Six speakers will talk on a variety of topics. Among them are Louw Claassens of the Knysna Basin Project, who will speak about the endangered Knysna seahorse, while Melanie de Morney of SANParks will discuss the current population status of the African crested eagle, a species of special concern. Cobus Meiring, speaking on behalf of the Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI) and the Garden Route Environmental Forum, will talk about assisting landowners with conservation projects with the support of the Table Mountain Fund and SCLI.
Organisations represented include SanParks, the Southern Cape Landowners Initiative, the Knysna Basin Project, the Precious Tree Project, Greenpop, the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Landmark Foundation, Wessa and more.
Additional to the speaker sessions, there will be a "conversation market" where attendees can chat and connect with a range of local environmental businesses, NGOs and other programmes, as well as visit the indigenous plant sale table and an environmental art stand, and see local contractors and citizen science and mapping projects.
The event is free, but donations to the conservancy will be appreciated. RSVP to Janet Botes before 25 February at art@janetbotes.co.za.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
