Umhlatuzana restored to former glory after clean-up

EARTH conscious volunteers rolled up their sleeves to clean the stretch of river that runs through the beautiful Stainbank Reserve on Friday, 8 September.

The clean-up saw the Umhlatuzana River left free of litter.

In celebration of national clean-up day and river day that took place over the weekend, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) teamed up with the Wilderness Leadership School and Eco Champs to clean the Umhlatuzana River.

View all the pictures in this gallery: Crow clean-up at Stainbank Reserve 

“Durban is known as the ‘dirt bin’ and litter is one of the biggest challenges that threaten our wildlife on a daily basis,” said CROW’s Chandré de Bruyn. “CROW has seen many cases of innocent creatures that succumb to their injuries as a result of the copious amounts of litter strewn across the Durban landscape.”

More than 27 bags of litter were collected on Friday morning.

“It took us about two hours to clean up the stretch of the river. The debris collected consisted of a wide variety of litter, from clothing to broken bottles. These items have fatal consequences for wild animals who are unaware of the choking and cutting hazards they pose.”

Chandré loved being part of this initiative.

“It was great to see how togetherness makes a huge impact, certainly more so than one individual acting alone,” she admitted. “Every rain drop counts. Collaboration is the only sure way that we are going to change people’s mindset and build a brighter future for all living things.”

CROW thanked everyone who got involved in the clean-up campaign, assisting in the protection and conservation of the environment and wildlife.

This organisation remains the only wildlife rehabilitation centre in Durban registered to work with all types of indigenous wildlife found in KZN. Every year CROW rescues, rehabilitates and releases over 3,000 orphaned, injured and displaced wild animals.

As a registered non-profit organisation, it is 100 per cent reliant on donations from the public. For queries and more information, contact CROW’s Chandré de Bruyn on 031-462-1127 or email info@crowkzn.co.za

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