[WATCH] Sapphire Coast showcased at Tourism Indaba
We made many contacts, trying to boost the Sapphire Coast and all its products available.
ANDRE (the Nature Guy) Steenkamp has educated and exposed the community to the wonders of nature since 2001 and his love for the environment drives him to never stop spreading the word about conservation and education.
The 44-year-old Bluff man spends most of his time in nature, working side by side with environmental organisations and warriors such as WESSA and Sodurba to encourage and engender an interest, especially among the youth, for environmental awareness and conservation.
‘Andre the Nature Guy’ gave himself the name because it’s a silly label that should stick in people’s minds. “I actually ‘borrowed’ the idea from Bill Nye the Science Guy,” he chuckled.
READ: Promote nature’s way of recycling
Andre has always harboured a deep interest in the natural environment since a very young age and started his formal involvement in 2001 as a nature guide near Eshowe. “I worked for WESSA from 2002 to 2008 where I enjoyed an incredible amount of experience (from working with up to 9,000 learners a year in any ecosystem to wildlife management lectures at DUT, while training community guides, managing invasive plant removal, conducting teacher workshops and facilitating environmental education courses for WESSA. This ignited my interest in environmental education,” he said.
He then joined BirdLife SA from 2008 to 2013 as a part of the management team of their tourism and education centre in Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga. He was involved in everything from environmental education for schools, various committees, supporting community projects and managing 114-ha of grassland adjoining the Wakkerstroom wetland for ecotourism.
“I love seeing the amazement on the faces of my guests when they learn something new about the incredible world right under our toes.
My work is very diverse. I support Sodurba as a committee member, manage the Pride of Stainbank environmental education programme for the Wilderness Leadership School and help to train future nature guides, give talks to various interest groups on anything from fungi to fish, do public night walks for Tidal Tao up in Ballito, awareness walks for the honorary officers at Beachwood Mangroves and the occasional free talk at old age homes,” he added.
His goal in life is to preserve the environment and the only way to do that is through education, by arming children and people with knowledge of nature and its living organisms, as well as creating awareness around the dangers of pollution and destruction of natural habitat.
“Regardless of what we may be led to believe, our natural environment is our life support system and deserves more than lip service. A healthy community is everybody’s responsibility. Concerning polluters – they know better and should step up too. Money doesn’t give a quality of life, just hollow quantity,” said Andre.
Sapphire Coast Tourism (SCT) extolled the virtues of the Sapphire Coast at a tourism indaba which took place in Durban last week.
SCT was one of nine Durban Tourism community tourism organisations (CTOs) which participated in the Africa’s Travel Indaba from Tuesday to Thursday, 8 to 10 May.
“We made many contacts, with mainly local buyers and a few international buyers visiting the stand, trying to boost the Sapphire Coast and all its products available, one of them being the Aliwal Shoal which is one of the top 10 dive sites in the world,” said SCT chairman, Romy Wenzel.
The best news from day one of the indaba was the announcement that British Airways will fly directly from Durban to London three days a week from 29 October. “We hope it is going to generate a greater influx of international visitors exploring the greater Durban area in the near future,” said Romy.
READ ALSO: Lensman’s stunning take-off photo snaps up contest win
SCT thanks Carol Lane and Paul O’Neill of Lane and Associates, and Catherina van der Berg for assisting to put a promotional video together at last minute notice and SCT representatives Cherece Badenhorst and Travis Jacobs, who represented Aliwal Shoal Scuba, as well as SCT committee member Monique de Kock for manning the stand on a voluntary basis during the exhibition times.
Born and bred Ilfracombe resident Stanley Sibisi was hired by SCT to represent the CTO during the indaba, as the stand had to be manned at all times from 10am to 6pm.
“It was my second attendance at the indaba and my first time representing SCT as chairman. I attended the opening day which was rather busy in the morning, with many ideas and suggestions exchanged with people who visited our stand.
READ ALSO: Sapphire Coast bumper beach fun over Easter
Having spoken to a few local people makes me wonder where this region is heading to, as we all tend to focus on the negative far more than the positive. Yes, we all know that the Durban South region has not been receiving the same attention as the Durban CBD and Durban North areas such as Umhlanga and Ballito.
Unfortunately, that’s the way it has been, not to mention the airport that was taken away from us in 2010. No doubt it had a huge impact on the people visiting the Sapphire Coast.
However, I would like to urge all local business owners and members of the public to come on board, support SCT in creating awareness and to make things a little better for local residents, as well as local and international travellers visiting our region.
Don’t stop complaining and continue to report faults to put pressure on authorities, and share suggestions and ideas of how things should be done in the South, by actively supporting your local CTO and keeping a positive spirit and supporting those who have contributed their own free time to positively boost our area,” said Romy.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 694 6047
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
