From the Editor: Our wild, wonderful environment

This is the good NEWS

Have a conversation with anybody in this region, a local or a visitor, and sooner or later someone is likely to say, “We’re/You’re so lucky to live in such a beautiful environment”.

Yes, we are indeed fortunate, and regular readers will know that The Village NEWS frequently draws attention to the efforts of so many of our residents to keep it that way.

At the same time, we believe it is necessary to point out instances of exploitation or desecration of our natural world. After all, we are not

around for longer than the blink of an eye, but the damage we do can last much longer.

As they say, extinction is forever.

We greatly admire the many volunteers who gladly offer up their time and energy to clear away alien vegetation so that the fynbos can re-emerge from its stranglehold, or to organise beach clean-ups; not to mention those who rush out at night, braving snakes and thorny bushes to save chameleons from falling victim to bulldozers.

But until we stop discarding plastic bottles and bags, fishing tackle and other pollutants in the ocean to tangle up and kill our rich diversity of marine life, and until we decide not to build roads or luxury estates in ecologically sensitive environments, we cannot be sure that the unique biodiversity of the area, or indeed humankind, will survive.

Click on the newspaper below to read more (see page 6).