As my time in South Africa draws to a close I am struck by how many of my favorite memories are of the nature and wildlife we experienced outdoors in Cape Town, Kruger, and Johannesburg. As an already outdoorsy person, the nature of South Africa appealed to me even before the trip, but no pictures on the Internet or in travel brochures can compare to the beauty of this country, or the stunning accessibility to all kinds of environments from the mountains to the beach. Because my time spent in nature has been my favorite time in South Africa, I was curious to explore the ways in which the government was working to preserve the natural beauty of this place, as well as the energetic and outdoorsy culture I experienced while here.
Table Mountain is part of a network of national parks served by the South African National Parks organization, SAN-Parks for short. This organization works with national parks focusing on conservation and preservation, and has enacted the People & Conservation program in many areas of South Africa. This program seeks to develop lasting relationships between people and their surrounding environment, fostering a feeling of respect for the land and a desire to keep it preserved for future members. This program focuses on four main Strategies to accomplish this goal: community relations, youth outreach, environmental awareness and information, and cultural resource management and indigenous knowledge. Of course I found this last point especially interesting after several days spent with Khoi leader Zenzile in Cape Town. SAN-Parks acknowledges the importance of protecting the cultural and historic importance of a protected area.
During our brief time in Johannesburg our class has already noticed that this city has similar practices to Cape Town when it comes to preservation, not just of specific protected areas but of the environment as a whole. Some noted environmentally friendly aspects of this culture include two flush toilets, hand dryers instead of paper towels in bathrooms, having to purchase plastic bags at the grocery store, and always having to purchase bottled water. In Kruger National Park, recycling bins were plentiful and the desire to conserve the surrounding area was also apparent.
While SAN-Parks also plays a big role in Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Parks works to ensure that city living does not interfere with the beauty of South Africa’s landscape. Man made parks, forests, and trails are prevalent across Johannesburg, and as one of the fastest growing cities in the world, it is important to create a plan to ensure the surrounding environment is not destroyed by infrastructure or increased development. The main way Johannesburg City Parks helps with this is through providing information to the people with events such as Water Week and World Wetlands Day. Interestingly enough, this topic also has important political implications as well. Not only is environmental conservation becoming a hot button issue for political parties to have a clear stance on, but environmental activist groups played a significant role in bringing about the end of apartheid. Many groups such as EarthlifeAfrica and the Cape Town Ecology Group recognized their role as nurturers of not just nature, but freedom and human rights as well. Anti-apartheid and ecological activism went hand in hand in many cases in South Africa.
I was really pleased to see the amount of organizations in South Africa that seem dedicated to preserving the surrounding nature. I especially appreciated the importance placed on the reasoning behind conservation and preservation. Many organizations place emphasis on the ways in which the environment benefits humans physically, but also mentally and emotionally as well. The connection between environment and culture is strong here and that is a beautiful thing to witness and see fostered from national parks like Kruger to big cities like Johannesburg.
Sources:
-http://www.jhbcityparks.com/pdfs/information_brochure.pdf
-http://www.sanparks.org/parks/table_mountain/people/default.php
