Several months ago, KwaZulu-Natal pupil Pumla Mlondo (20) didn’t think twice when her father told her to dispose of old oil and batteries in the nearby Tugela river. When her mother told her to throw the dirty laundry water into the river – she went straight ahead.
When her fellow pupil, Elvis Xaba (18), told a group of men who were planning to enter the Umlalazi Nature Reserve to gather firewood that they should rather protect their natural heritage, he was met with derisive laughter. ‘You have forgotten where you have come from,” he told them. ‘Many good things come from nature. Even the trees give us oxygen.”
Both scenarios were part of an educational play performed by Zenzeleni senior secondary school’s environmental club. The play was staged for community members, the school and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officials in Mtunzini.
Ezemvelo donated R97 000 to build two classrooms for Zenzeleni and a neighbouring school, Zicabangele primary school. The money was drawn from a special community levy made up from a percentage of all gate and accommodation fees at Ezemvelo reserves. The new classrooms will ease congestion in the rural schools and – along with resource back-up from the education department – will facilitate the growth of environmental education in grass roots communities.
The area is home to four breeding pairs of the rare Palmnut vulture, and the equally rare Mangrove kingfisher. Unique prograding sand dunes and the coastal sand forest add to the area’s bio-diversity and Ezemvelo is keen to see local communities demonstrate care and a love for their environment. It is a message that seems to be sinking in. ‘I didn’t know any better then,” Mlondo told the audience. ‘Now I know better than to throw things into the water.”
Xaba’s message in the play was equally educational. ‘If you are caught trespassing, or fishing without a permit in the nature reserve you will go to jail,” he said.
The play was an indication that conservation ethics are slowly taking root among the rural youth.
— African Eye News Service