Pictured: WESSA members, staff and partners take part in International Cleanup Day

On Saturday, 19 September, learners, volunteers and partners came together with WESSA to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day, turning a shared commitment to the environment into 90 minutes of practical action along the coast.

The beach cleanup brought together WESSA, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Blue Ribbon and Mertech Marine, alongside a group of learners who collected litter from the sand, pebble shoreline and rock pools. Together, they collected 91 bags of waste in just 90 minutes.

The cleanup was also part of WESSA’s centenary year, providing an opportunity to celebrate 100 years of action for nature while encouraging young people to take responsibility for the environment.

Turning responsibility into action

Opening the event, WESSA CEO Cindy-Lee Cloete reflected on what it means to reach 100 years of environmental action.

She reminded those gathered that caring for the environment matters and that protecting it is a responsibility we all share. She thanked the partners and volunteers for taking part, noting that their presence demonstrated a real commitment to the cause.

For WESSA, this sense of shared responsibility is central to its work. Cloete described the work being done today as a legacy for future generations, reminding the learners that WESSA is made up of people caring for the Earth.

She also encouraged the learners to take responsibility and, importantly, to take action.

Learning through doing

There is something powerful about environmental education that happens beyond the classroom.

On the day, learners were not simply learning about the impact of litter on coastal environments; they were actively participating in caring for a coastal space as they walked the shoreline and collected waste.

Pictured above: Learners carrying bags of collected waste along the shoreline, volunteers working across the pebble beach and dune edge, and participants clearing litter from the rock pools

The 91 bags collected in 90 minutes are a tangible reminder of both the scale of the challenge and what can be achieved when people come together around a shared purpose.

A century of caring for the Earth

Pictured: WESSA CEO, Cindy-Lee Cloete, with a young volunteer cutting the centenary cake.

The day ended on a celebratory note, with WESSA staff, partners, volunteers and learners marking the organisation’s 100th year with a centenary cake.

The celebration was a fitting reflection of WESSA’s centenary theme: People Caring for the Earth.

For 100 years, WESSA has worked to connect people with nature through education, advocacy and action. International Coastal Cleanup Day brought that legacy to life in a simple but meaningful way by bringing people together to care for a shared environment and encouraging the next generation to play their part.

The work does not end when the bags are collected.

Every cleanup is also an opportunity to learn, to build awareness and to remind ourselves that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility.

Ninety minutes of action made a visible difference.

More importantly, it gave learners an opportunity to experience what it means to care for the Earth and to recognise that meaningful environmental action starts with all of us.

Pictured: Katherine Imrie, WESSA’s Research & Monitoring Coordinator for our Coastal Programme visit to Glen Hill School.

Helping communities act against ghost fishing

On 14 August, WESSA’s Research & Monitoring Coordinator for our Coastal Programme, Katherine Imrie, visited Glen Hill School to hand over a Stop the Strangle certificate of participation, recognising the school’s involvement in the campaign.

The school has two fishing line bins where learners and members of the school community can deposit fishing lines and other fishing gear found in the area. During the visit, learners learnt more about ghost fishing and the risks posed by abandoned fishing gear to marine life.

A bag of fishing gear collected from the surrounding area helped bring the issue to life before learners took part in an interactive exercise demonstrating how marine entanglements can occur.

Building local action along the Wild Coast

Pictured above: Stronger together! Welcoming new partners to the campaign.

Between 12 and 13 August, the Coastal Programme team visited three Green Coast sites in the Mbhashe Municipality – Lubanzi, Qatywa and Cwebe.

The visits provided an opportunity to introduce local stakeholders to the Stop the Strangle campaign and hand over six fishing bins, which were received with enthusiasm.

Pictured: Out on the Wild Green Coast

Being on site also provides an important opportunity to strengthen relationships with communities and partners working in these coastal areas. These local connections are essential for supporting the environmental changes and practical actions needed to keep coastal environments healthy.

Working with municipalities towards more sustainable coastal destinations

On 4 August, the Coastal Team spent the day with colleagues from Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) discussing potential Blue Flag pilot and full-status sites.

The engagement provided an opportunity to explore how BCMM sites could participate in the Blue Flag Programme and potentially join the Green Coast Network in future.

Breaking the process down into practical, actionable steps helped demonstrate that participating in these programmes can be achievable while offering meaningful benefits for the municipality and its coastal destinations.

Connecting data and partnerships to tackle marine pollution

The Coastal Team is also exploring new ways to strengthen the impact of the Stop the Strangle campaign through discussions with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI).

The discussions are focused on integrating Stop the Strangle campaign data into the GGGI database, making the information more accessible while helping to amplify the work being done to address abandoned and lost fishing gear.

The team is also continuing to build connections through the Green Coast Implementer Forum. The third forum of 2026 took place on 2 September and featured world-renowned extreme open-water swimmer Sarah Ferguson, who shared her story and the work of her NGO, Breathe Ocean Conservation, in tackling single-use plastic pollution.

Pictured: Breathe Ocean Conservation recently joined the Stop the Strangle network during the Coastal Team’s engagement in Ballito for the Surfing Pro, creating an opportunity to continue sharing knowledge and strengthening collaboration around marine pollution.

Across these activities, the Coastal Team continues to focus on practical action, local partnerships, and shared learning.

From schools collecting fishing gear to municipalities exploring sustainable coastal programmes, these engagements demonstrate how collaboration can help turn environmental challenges into opportunities for action and change.