LETTER: Pollution and litter doom special ecosystems

I recently walked the Perlemoen Trail in the Western Cape and experienced the uniqueness of one of many special SA ecosystems.

There are many guides and conservationists globally trying to protect these and other environments. It’s a tragedy that any human, rich or poor, should be allowed to litter and pollute them. The mess these litterers make demonstrates a complete lack of basic human decency. They should be taught acceptable human behaviour at school and exposed daily to the impact of this shameful behaviour. (As if plastic bags blown against fences isn’t obvious enough.)

Sky News tried this with the exposure of plastics pollution, but it needs ongoing reinforcement. We saw poachers and vehicles driving illegally along Oyster Catcher-protected beaches, but we were told it was more than our lives are worth to report it to the police. How pathetic.

One aspect of sheer stupidity was watching many locals employed sifting the sand for “nurdles”, paid for by the company responsible for a “nurdle” spill off the Cape coast. The irony was they were surrounded by other plastics pollution. Only in SA?

While individual humans can consider littering and polluting acceptable behaviour without penalty I am afraid these special ecosystems are doomed locally and globally.

Andy Clay
Via email

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