Mossel Bay upgrades nature trail

"Despite the fact that many visitors came to the area over the holiday season, which puts considerable strain on the region's resources, everyone seemed to be generally more aware of their responsibilities towards the environment," said Fred Orban of MEP.

"You're no longer considered a radical if you're thinking green. This is not just because of the work the MEP has achieved; it is a conglomeration of the work of all environmental activists and agencies around the world.

"I think this might have been the biggest spin-off of COP17 - that it brought the environment and the environmental challenges that we face into sharper focus.

"The fact that a visitor who found a strange snake in his holiday house would bring it to the authorities - rather than kill it (as he might have done before) - shows that people are becoming more sensitive and understanding and this represents a major turn-around.

"Even when it comes to fishing licenses, more and more people are taking them out and abiding by their quotas - because they understand the consequences of doing so."

However, he said, not everyone was playing the game. "It was disturbing to see that some people were ignoring the municipality's ban on Chinese Lanterns, which could be seen as a fire hazard."

One of the partnership's big successes of 2011 was the turnaround of the St. Blaize Trail, a 13.5 km contour path along the cliffs, west of the Cape St. Blaize Lighthouse.

"The trail has been cleaned, upgraded and properly marked and the Garden Route Casino Community Trust has published a hiker's map, so the whole thing's become much more accessible both as a tourism product and as a way of exploring the natural fynbos and the ocean environment."

The trail is also expected to start generating sustainable employment during this year.

"MEP is sending four members of the local community on a veld school course with Johan Fourie at the Nature College and, after their internship, they'll be available as guides and conservation workers."

Mossel Bay Tourism's Marcia Holm said that the environment is one of the town's most important tourist attractions. "We have a unique combination of marine, fynbos, and mountain ecosystems which deserve protection for themselves and what they represent - but also because they can and do provide Mossel Bay with important economic advantages and tourism opportunities."

For more information, go to www.visitmosselbay.co.za or www.mep.org.za.