City Celebrates Water Week With A "Big Dunes Day" At Macassar

Two hundred school children from Macassar and Khayelitsha will be attending the event, to be held at Macassar Dunes.

The day is being hosted by Macassar Dunes Nature Reserve, Cape Flats Nature, Eco-Schools: Khayelitsha Node, Ilitha Lomso (Community Environmental Organisation) and the Macassar Dunes Co-Management Association.

The event is aligned to the City's integrated Youth Environmental School (YES) Water and Sanitation Weeks.

The "Big Dunes Day" is an annual event where 200 primary school learners from schools in Khayelitsha and Macassar, particularly those schools closest to the reserve, visit the Dunes.

The children will be shown what happens within a Waste Water Treatment Works and be taught how to identify birds and learn more about their social patterns. The food chain, biodiversity, urban development and fish spotting will be other areas under discussion.

Importantly, the children will be asked to identify their own local environmental issues and suggest possible solutions.

For most learners this will be their first visit to Macassar Dunes, a precious natural resource right on their doorstep. For others, the day means getting to know their environment and what nature has to offer.

This Dunes Day is particularly important in the context of urban expansion, which directly affects Macassar Dunes.

The organisers of the day say they look forward to a time when the greatest ambassadors and caretakers of the Dunes are those who live closest to them.

All media are welcome to attend the event and to become communication partners in this important development project.

Date: 20 March 2007
Time: 10:00 to 14:00
Venue: Macassar Waste Water Treatment Works - off Macassar Road, Opposite Macassar Community

Issued by:
Communication and Marketing
City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 400 2201
Fax: 021 957 0023

Media Queries:
Lewine Walters
Macassar Dunes Nature Reserve Manager
Tel: 021 371 5141
Fax: 021 374 1910