Unemployment and Conservation

Social development programmes world wide tackle a range of issues - education, human rights, gender equality, social injustice, health and poverty. There has been an increasing awareness over the years for sustainable community development and community inclusion when making decisions. With the raise of climate awareness within community development, some NPOs are looking at combining two problems into one solution.

Project Noordhoeked is a community project based in Nooedhoek that was created when Sonette Son saw her local beaches covered in trash and decided to do something about it. Relying on donations all funds raised go toward the employees who clean up the beaches, lagoon and wetlands, as well as Noordhoek Common. Apart from cleaning up, the group also works to create awareness of single use plastic. The NPO works with SANParks and local community members tackling unemployment and environmental conservation.

Deeper in the city of Cape Town, there is the HelpUp organisation which tackles pollution in the Black River which runs through Cape Town and the Cape Flats. The NPO not only cleans the river of litter but also invasive plants. They have created more than 330 jobs and collect between two to three tonnes of waste.

Further along the Garden Route in Knysna, SANParks is also creating job opportunities for locals with clean up teams working on the beaches and estuary. The estuary is home to the Knysna seahorse (or Cape seahorse) which is only found in South Africa and listed as endangered.

Our Cape Nature Conservation project aims to promote the conservation of the indigenous fauna and flora of the Zandvlei wetland in Muizenberg. Volunteer tasks at the reserve include bio-monitoring and research, ecological management and rehabilitation, visitor management, construction and infrastructure maintenance, stakeholder and community engagement and environmental education.

Yours,
The Good Hope Volunteer Team

To be part of our amazing volunteer community, please contact us.