Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 5 November 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# South Africa’s Grootbos private nature reserve is one of the winners of the Global Responsible Tourism Awards. The awards are a standard bearer for the positive side of the travel industry. The five-star eco-lodge in Gansbaai in the Western Cape was recognised in the employing and upskilling local communities category. Profits from the lodge fund the Grootbos Foundation, which gives free skills and business training to locals in the areas of hospitality, horticulture, entrepreneurship, and biodiversity. Other winners include Rajasthan Studio in India and Thailand’s Sivatel Bangkok Hotel.

# Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Dion George, says South Africa remains resolutely focused on implementing the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking. He addressed the United Nations eighth Wildlife Inter-Regional Enforcement meeting in Cape Town. The strategy aims to establish a well-resourced, integrated, multidisciplinary law enforcement approach to dismantle the illicit value chain of wildlife trafficking within the country and beyond. George says it is evident that the country is not alone in the fight to save the planet’s species from ruthless criminal elements.

# And finally: The Kruger National Park advises visitors at Letaba rest camp to prepare for the loud hum of cicadas, which are currently swarming the area. These insects, known to emerge in large numbers depending on temperature, humidity, and rainfall, are harmless but attracted to light. SANParks spokesperson Isaac Phaahla suggests keeping doors closed and veranda lights off in the evenings to avoid drawing the cicadas inside:

Stay tuned for more news………….