GEORGE NEWS - The Annual Climate Change and Environmental Management Indaba will be held at the Nelson Mandela University George Campus (NMU) on Thursday 27 June.

The event is presented in collaboration with the Garden Route Environmental Forum (Gref), the Gouritz Cluster and Garden Route Biosphere reserves, NMU and several government entities including Western Cape Disaster Management, GRDM, SANParks and CapeNature.

The theme for the 2024 Indaba is 'Resilience in action: Building sustainable communities amid a changing climate'.

The Southern Cape is no stranger to climate-driven natural disasters, and in the month of June the people of Knysna and surrounds will forever reflect on the devastation caused by the 2017 wildfire disaster which destroyed more than 1 000 structures and claimed several lives.

"Since then the region was regularly subjected to more wildfire disasters, severe flooding and storm surges causing millions of rand in damages to municipalities that are already under pressure in their efforts to serve the needs of an ever-increasing population," says Cobus Meiring, head of Gref.

At the indaba, conservation and environmental management entities will be looking at best practice models to ensure a more sustainable and resilient environment capable of surviving and even flourishing during a time when a changing climate will no doubt bring more wildfires, heat waves, drought, severe storms and floods in coming decades, while the preservation of the region's unique and endangered biodiversity remains critical.

For more information on the event, contact Louise Mare louisamare@gmail.com (www.grefscli.co.za).

Gref is a public platform and climate change think tank for national and regional conservation and environmental management entities.

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