On Saturday, 11 October 2025, WESSA hosted a successful beach cleanup at Treasure Beach under the Green Rising project, bringing together passionate volunteers for a day of impact and inspiration.
Over 80 participants, including enthusiastic students from the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and members of the Power Girls Organisation, joined forces to restore and protect this vital stretch of coastline. Their hard work paid off, with 60 bags of waste collected, helping to safeguard marine life and promote healthier ocean ecosystems.
Beyond the cleanup, the day offered an opportunity to connect more deeply with nature through a rocky shore exploration, where participants discovered the incredible biodiversity that thrives along our coasts. The event perfectly captured the spirit of Green Rising, combining environmental action, education, and community collaboration to inspire lasting change.
The Green Rising Protect and Restore Project is a collaborative initiative between WESSA and UNICEF aimed at combatting biodiversity degradation in South African schools and communities while expanding WESSA’s national reach. Over the next year 2025/6, we aim to mobilise at least 20 000 children and young people in 100 schools across the Gauteng, Northwest, Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces, to take direct climate action. These efforts will help restore and protect a minimum of 100 hectares of land and divert over 500 tons of waste through activities such as indigenous planting and biodiversity conservation.