SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership | Wakkerstroom Wetland Reserve and Training Centre

We, at the Wakkerstroom Centre, would like to introduce you to a new fund that has been set up for environmental education in and around Wakkerstroom. Over the past year, we have noticed that many schools, especially educators, are struggling to incorporate environmental learning and education at their schools.

With the background and experience that Andre and I both have in environmental education, collectively 15 years, we believe that through this fund we will not only be able to reach our future generation but also have an effect on how environmental issues are taught presently at schools.

We see this fund assisting in the following manners:

1. Providing educators with workshops on how to incorporate environmental issues in their class based lessons

2. Provide educators with practical ideas / action taking projects / and a base from which to discover more about our environment

3. Provide learners with opportunities to learn more and experience our natural environment

4. Encourage learners and educators to become involved in projects and programmes that are happening in their areas as well as contributing towards community based science and monitoring, especially in the case of birds.

So, how can you become involved in this fund? There are a few ways through which you can make this happen:

a. Sponsor a learner for an environmental education excursion to the BirdLife South Africa Wakkerstroom Centre at R25 per learner.

b. Sponsor a group for an environmental education excursion to the BirdLife South Africa Wakkerstroom Centre at R1000 per group (40 learners).

c. Sponsor a group of educators for a themed workshop at the BirdLife South Africa Wakkerstroom Centre at R2500. This includes lunch for 40 educators, resources required to practically implement the selected theme back at school as well as the venue hire and presentation of the workshop. Themes will be selected from requests and suggestions from the educators at R2500.

d. Sponsor an environmental day to celebrate at the BirdLife South Africa Centre at R5000 (includes course fees for 100 learners and lunch for each learner). Presently the centre celebrates World Wetlands Day, World Migratory Bird Day, World Environment Week, National Arbor Week, Children’s Day, National Clean-Up Week as well as Birding Big Day.

e. Sponsor the development and printing of a working schedule (interlinked lesson plans and activities for educators to implement). This includes working schedules for foundation (gr R-3), intermediate (gr 4-6) and senior (gr 7-9) phases for 40 schools, with whom we currently have communication and contact with. The sponsorship of this activity totals R10’000 – includes working schedules for the three phases, printing of the working schedules and introductory workshop for the educators. Themes for the working schedules will be drawn from the suggestions and requests received from educators. The sponsor’s logo will appear on the cover page of the working schedule as well as included in the footer of each page.

All sponsors will receive a report on their sponsored event, including photographs. Your logo or name will be displayed at every opportunity during the event / programme. Regarding media coverage, the sponsorship of the event and the event itself, will be printed in the Wakkerstroom local newsletter, namely Op en Wakker, as well as in the local newspaper, the Recorder.

If you interested in becoming involved with Environmental Education in and around Wakkerstroom or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact Andre or Kristi.