Overstrand Municipality together with Marine Dynamics and
\nthe Dyer Island Conservation Trust are implementing drains at storm water pipes
\nin order to minimise waste from reaching the ocean. Inspired by a project in
\nAustralia, Wilfred Chivell of Marine Dynamics Tours and founder of the Dyer
\nIsland Conservation Trust, realised the need for a net system over the storm
\nwater drain outlets in Gansbaai. The first identified site was Gansbaai
\nHarbour, an area notorious for pollution originating from a central point in
\ntown, and so Project Storm was started in 2019. The project has been successful
\nand carries an education component with the Overstrand Municipality placing
\neducation signs at all drains that reads \u201cDon\u2019t Litter. The Sea Starts Here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday 5 June a storm water net was installed in Hawston
\nin order to minimise waste reaching the Paddavlei Wetlands, a fragile wetland
\nthat is being impacted by pollution and reed overgrowth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials of Overstrand Municipality\u2019s Environmental Management
\nDepartment, Pierre de Villiers of CapeNature, Brenda Walters of Marine Dynamics
\nand Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Sheraine van Wyk of Whale Coast
\nConservation gathered at the Paddavlei on World Environmental Day (Saturday 5
\nJune) to launch Project Storm. They were joined by members of the Paddavlei Eco
\nGroup (PEG) and the TS Birkenhead Hawston Cadet Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liezl de Villiers, Senior Manager of the Environmental
\nManagement Department, related that World Environmental Day was first
\ncelebrated in 1972. She highlighted the importance of preserving natural
\nresources for future generations and explained that the storm water net\u2019s
\npurpose is to prevent plastic from ending up in the wetlands and ocean where it
\ncan harm animal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project requires time, energy, and funding. We were
\nnegatively affected in 2020 but we can now pick this project up again and are committed
\nto its growth. The municipality will play a main role in the clearing of these
\nnets as part of waste management. We will also make some funding available for
\nthis project,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walters commended Overstrand Municipality for its support of
\nProject Storm, stating that their support is key to ensuring the success of the
\nproject. She pointed out that although the storm water net is a brilliant
\ninvention more should be done to stop pollution, adding: \u201cThe solution is no
\npollution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was reiterated by Sheraine van Wyk who told the
\nchildren that it would be best to start educating those around them about the
\nnegative impact of pollution and to urge them not to litter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pierre De Villiers of CapeNature commended the members of
\nPEG for their passion and dedication to improve the condition of the Paddavlei
\nWetlands and gave a brief overview of plans to achieve this. He stated that minimising
\nwaste reaching the water system, as well as the planned reed removal, will
\nbring much needed balance to this ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afterwards, the group assisted the Cadets in spray-painting
\nthe educational stencils with messages like \u201cThe sea starts here\u201d, \u201cDefend our
\nwetlands\u201d and \u201cNo Dumping\u201d at various stormwater drains in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kleinmond Conservation Group has also offered extra
\nhands and is looking at some of their problematic storm drains and hope to soon
\nhave a couple of nets up in their area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chivell had this to say about Project Storm: \u201cWe hope that
\nthrough this project we can minimise the impact on our wildlife by reducing the
\namount of waste entering the marine system, as well as use the statistics to
\neducate the public of the impact poorly discarded trash has on the ecosystem. I
\nam also so glad that we have the incredible support of the Overstrand Municipality
\nto jointly work on such projects. The storm net project has created much
\ninterest across South Africa and will be the focus of a marine pollution
\nroadshow from Cape Town to Durban in August that the Dyer Island Conservation
\nTrust will be doing with Plastics SA. Interested companies can sponsor the
\nmanufacture of a net for an estimated R5 000 and can get in touch with the Dyer
\nIsland Conservation Trust to do so. The storm nets will be mapped on the DICT
\nwebsite so each company will be acknowledged for their contribution in this
\nway. The Dyer Island Conservation Trust in Gansbaai is grateful to have
\nrecently received a grant through the National Lotteries Commission, a portion
\nof which is allocated to two storm nets, that includes the one placed in Hawston.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overstrand Municipality together with Marine Dynamics and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust are implementing drains at storm water pipes in order to minimise waste from reaching the ocean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":52386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"22d1ef86-9df5-4f85-9bdb-41f4f9267291","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privac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