The Garden Route Fire Commemoration Event and Climate Change Indaba was held on the 9th of June 2021 and attended by Sharples Environmental Services. The Indaba was hosted by the Garden Route District Municipality and the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF). The theme for this year’s Garden Route Fire Commemoration Event and Climate Change Indaba was “Adapt to a Sustainable Future”. The keynote address was delivered by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), Ms Makhotso Magdaline Sotyu.
The indaba focused on bringing attention towards the affects of climate change by presenting the latest findings on global change research in the Garden Route, the challenges of climate change and invasive alien species in Africa, disaster management, water resource management, freshwater ecology and sea-level rise and its impact on coastal infrastructure along the Mossel Bay coastline.
Sharples Environmental Services’ very own Freshwater Ecologist – Debbie Fordham, presented on “Green infrastructure for disaster risk reduction: The role of wetlands in the Garden Route.” The presentation focused on emphasizing the important role Green infrastructure, such as Wetlands, play in reducing disaster risk through natural regulatory processes and why our urban wetlands and rivers must be effectively managed, and maintained in a healthy ecological condition, to benefit biodiversity conservation and society.
The information presented by Debbie and a YouTube link where the indaba and presentation can be watched is included below.
YouTube – The Garden Route Fire Commemoration Event and Climate Change Indaba
Sharples Environmental Services continues to seek various ways in which knowledge can be shared and relationships made in order to adapt to a sustainable future.