Breathe Conservation is championing environmental outreach in Durban ahead of their much awaited Consol Breathe World Ocean Day Swim on 24 September.
Breathe Conservation CEO Sarah Ferguson said Breathe aims to eliminate plastic pollution by inspiring change through education. She said: “We have monthly reef clean-ups, corporate and retail education and extreme swims locally and globally. We have also launched our first Marine Guide Development programme in partnership with Zebra Shark adventures and funded by Oceans Alive. We have trained up two marine guides in this program and are busy with our new intake of guides for the next course,”
The monthly reef clean-ups off the Durban beaches has become a popular venture for volunteers but the recent events along the KwaZulu-Natal coast have had a significant knock-on effect for Breathe and their plans.
“We have collected over 60kg of litter from our monthly reef clean ups despite having a forced four month break due to the floods in KwaZulu-Natal. Many of our events this year have had to be postponed or cancelled as a result of the floods and we have struggled to keep going as a result of this. We rely on these annual events to keep us functioning. This year we have had to let go our permanent staff and social media team and are functioning on volunteers to keep our programs going,” said Ferguson.
Currently, the Durban North endurance swimmer is taking on her One Ocean Swim where she is swimming from Durban to Cape Town. This is an endeavour that she hopes will inspire people to change their lifestyle to a more sustainable one.
“We have provided a few marine guided walks on the North Coast and launched a limited edition range of products inspired by the One Ocean Swim from Durban to Cape Town.During this swim we have engaged with local schools and communities as well as educated the public through various news channels on the importance of behavioural change around consumer habits as well as helpful tips on how to eliminate unnecessary plastic from our lives.”
The team at Breathe Conservation rely on events like the World Ocean Day Swim to receive crucial funding that helps them continue the work that they do in the communities. To enter visit https://roag.org/events/entries-and-info.
