Cape Town - As South Africa emerges from Covid-19, the World Wide Fund for Nature SA (WWF) has launched the “For Nature. For Us” campaign, as part of its efforts to create a more sustainable relationship between humans and the environment.
Th campaign encourages the public to donate towards vital environmental conservation projects, aiming to raise funds with donations between R100 to R500 for conservation projects focused on wildlife, oceans, health and clean air.
WWF South Africa Head of Business Development, Justin Smith, said ecosystems were rapidly declining because of the continued environmental mistreatment, which is why the WWF had initiated the campaign.
“We must act now if we want to continue to have access to all the ‘free’ services that nature offers us – from the food we eat to the air we breathe. That is why we are calling on society for support so that we can continue to do the vital work that we do every day in order to safeguard our future,” said Smith.
With biodiversity being lost at an alarming rate, Smith said the impact of this loss on our health and way of life were growing.
“The population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have seen an alarming average drop of 68% since 1970. As per the findings of WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020, our relationship with nature is broken,” he said.
WWF South Africa CEO, Morné du Plessis, said it was possible to reverse the damage by making fundamental changes to the way we live with campaigns like “For nature. For us.”
“We need to value nature as the indispensable resource that it is,” said Du Plessis.
Donations can be made on the WWF website. Supporters stand a chance to win two nights for two people at Thakadu River Lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve.