Much remains to be done towards increasing public awareness of the efforts by WFW and partners towards overcoming the challenges posed by invasive alien plants, promoting voluntary proactive responses and fostering community ownership of initiatives aimed at the management and containment of invasive alien plants (IAPs).

Invasive alien plants are an integral component of Environmental Education in the National School Curriculum. Environmental Education is one of the new integrated issues that need to be addressed by educators and schools.

In finding ways of reaching these communities the WfW entered into discussions with Cape Nature who runs an “Outdoor Learning Centre” at its Witfontein Nature Reserve outside George in the Western Cape.

The reserve has been running “outdoor environmental classes” for a while but with limited resources. The outdoor classrooms consist of benches placed within the specific parts of the reserve e.g. the invasive forest, fynbos, water catchment area, wetland, medicinal garden and commercial forestry. School groups visiting the reserve were taken to the various sections and had to complete an assignment during the course of the day. Field rangers accompanied the learners during these visits and were responsible for the various topics/lectures.

This offered a unique opportunity to engage educators and learners on invasive alien plants issues in an environment that is conducive for experiential learning.

The objectives, as outlined in the Cape Nature’s concept paper for this project, clearly share WFW’s views on providing environmental learning opportunities for young people that will lead to a greater holistic environmental sustainability. The approach suggested allowed educators and learners the opportunity to access their neighboring parks and use the park as a learning resource.

WfW share copyright of materials developed, which could be applied to any IAP awareness campaign.