KNYSNA NEWS - A rare honour became Knysna's when one of the world's most influential marine scientist Dr Sylvia Earle (79) came all the way to these shores to launch the town as one of South Africa's six Hope Spots. There are only 51 Hope Spots in the world thus far.
The Hope Spot project is part of an inspiring initiative by this dynamic little lady who, in 2009, won a TED prize of $1-million with which she started Mission Blue, aimed at establishing marine protected areas around the globe.
As a fearless activist and visionary who finds solutions for the state of the world's oceans where most only see the alarming rate and extent of man-made devastation and greed in nature, Earle truly seems to be a rare voice of reason, wisdom and hope.
On Sunday evening, December 7, the local audience at the Knysna Hope Spot launch at the Turbine Hotel were mesmerised by the apparent inner strength, profound lightness of being emanating from such a tiny physical frame of the author, lecturer, explorer and submarine pilot. Earle equalled the world record for the deepest solo dive in a sub and set the record for women, diving to the depth of 1 000m in Deep Ocean Engineering's Deep Rover in 1986. This makes her one of only a handful of individuals who have explored the greatest depths of the oceans firsthand.
"A Hope Spot is the same as a nature reserve on land," Earle explained. She said that South Africa's borders extend 200km beyond its coast into the sea, "but how many South Africans know of Blue South Africa - your oceans? While I was flying over your beautiful coastline from Mossel Bay, I was reminded of what the Californian coastline once looked like. You still have time to save it, to change how you treat it, to control what you put into your ocean and estuary. It is not too late yet."
The cocktail launch event, hosted by master of ceremonies and main coordinator Vernon Gibbs-Halls of Eden District Municipality's Biodiversity, Coastal and Environmental Management, was the culmination of months of preparation. One of the main events leading up to the launch of Knysna as a Hope Spot, was the creation of the world's largest underwater sculpture aimed at attracting attention to the plight of such vulnerable and unique species as the Knysna seahorse. The giant seahorse, which took environmental activist and artist Charles Frank 12 days to sculpt, was unveiled by Earle on the same evening.
Duality
The harsh reality, as clearly understood by Earle, is that there exists a perplexing duality, here and around the globe: Those who are waking up to environmental consciousness and who care deeply about how we are shaping the world around us, need to deal with those who are yet to realise that responsibility is part of the privilege of living on this planet.
Knysna's incredible honour of being one of the most pristine marine protected areas in the world and the only Hope Spot to include an estuary, does not rhyme with the fact that many still, quite literally, regard the Knysna Lagoon as a toilet and general dumping site. How much needs to be lost before awareness is gained?
"Don't ever underestimate the power of kids," Earle smiled knowingly as the audience viewed a clip of a child urging then American senator Barack Obama to keep his word on enforcing legislation banning the commercial killing of whales internationally. "We are learning so much so fast and it is the younger generation whose attitudes towards our oceans can bring about incredible shifts in how we do things. We are seven-billion minds connected, relying on the natural world for our existence. Our natural world is vulnerable and we are changing the nature of nature."
Earle is a firm believer that attitudes across the globe are beginning to change and that a drastic impact can be made (even on adults) if we can reach the younger generation in time, if we can instill in them a love, appreciation and understanding of the natural world of which the oceans are a very prominent part.
Echoing this sentiment, a visible inspired Derek Hanekom, national tourism minister, said that as part of a photographic competition set to raise awareness, children were given Canon cameras to take their own photographs of living creatures. From the result, it was clear that young South Africans are the ideal target group to inspire a new wave of marine education. A compilation of these photographs is now on sale as South African Coasts - A Celebration of Our Seas and Shores, as a public participation coffee-table book, another initiative of Dr Tony Ribbink's Sustainable Seas Trust, now linked with Mission Blue.
Dr Earle credited Ribbink (CEO of Sustainable Seas Trust/ Ikyaya Lethemba 'Home of Hope' in South Africa) as the person responsible for bringing her to South Africa once more. Internationally recognised scientist, Dr Ribbink's ideas are in line with the Earle's vision and he was instrumental in organising various programmes and projects that took place in Knysna this past week. The local children had an opportunity to experience the estuary for themselves and to interact with Knysna's esteemed guest, Earle.
The multi-stakeholder Hope Spot Committee driving the initiative locally include Eden District Municipality, SANParks, Knysna Tourism, the Knysna Basin Project, Lakes Bird Club, Biowise, CapeNature and many more. Of the 249 national estuaries forming part of a study conducted by Jane Turpie and Barry Clarke (2007), the Knysna Estuary was ranked above the St Lucia World Heritage Site in terms of biodiversity significance. The Knysna Estuary accounts for 43% of South Africa's plant and animal estuarine biodiversity and is also home to a number of rare species.
On Monday, December 8, Earle joined a crowd of children from various schools and wasted no time getting into a wet suit to go in search of Knysna seahorses at Thesen Island! The lagoon was also given a special blessing by elders from the local Rastafarian community.
"We cannot manage the ocean, but we can manage how we treat it. By the end of this century we will have had to figure out how to use it for an enduring future."
As part of the launch of the Knysna Hope Spot, the feisty 79-year-old Dr Sylvia Earle (seated, in front) joined youngsters of Hornlee and learners of Oakhill School (blue) and Stepping Stones' (red) Biowise activity groups on the lawn at Thesen Island, on Monday, December 8. They listened as the chief of Knysna's Judah Square Rastafarian community, Noel 'Maxi' Melville (in pink) spoke a blessing over the lagoon at the unveiling of the Knysna Hope Spot plaque.
ARTICLE: ANOESCHKA VON MECK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD JOURNALIST
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