Media Release: Indaba to discuss the likely impact of Climate Change on the Garden Route: A 20 year outlook

For immediate release
05 May 2025

“The Garden Route is no stranger to natural disasters and increasingly so to which many ascribe to a fast-changing climate”, writes Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF). The question begs how can environmental managers look into the future and make projections on what may be impacting on the region over the next two decades. The Garden Route conservation and environmental management community is blessed with recognised and highly educated academics and practitioners capable of modelling scenarios and impacts capable of creating scenarios of what an uncertain future may hold.

Floods, storm surges, drought and non-stop wild fire disasters are all posing serious challenges to hard infrastructure, fragile ecosystems and vulnerable Garden Route communities. Perhaps more importantly, a changing climate may well adversely affect the regional economy as it becomes harder for the all-important agricultural sector to be viable and sustainable unless it is able to adapt. The other significant regional economic driver is tourism, and a deteriorating natural environment due to natural disasters and loss of natural infrastructure, e.g. the deteriorating coast line and risk to properties will also be discussed at the upcoming Climate Change Indaba.

Over time budgets to repair hard infrastructure such as roads, bridges, storm water systems and infrastructure along the coast are decreasing, and governmental entities responsible for planning and construction must take into account potential risks associated with the impact of a changing climate and rain fall patterns. Torrential and episodic rain storms are becoming the order of the day, and storm water systems and roads must be designed in order to be able to survive such impacts.

The negative impact of Invasive Alien Plants (IAP’s) on the environment including providing fuel for out- of control wild fire disasters an severely affecting biodiversity, preventing water catchments and feeder streams to function effectively is not being addressed by landowners and spreading fast.

Across the region environmental disasters are on the increase, and disaster management agencies responsible for dealing with their aftermath must be better funded, better equipped, better trained and be pro-active in putting early warning systems in place to reduce exposure.

The GREF Climate Change and Environmental Management Indaba will take place on 27 June 2025 at Nelson Mandela University: George Campus.

Enquiries can be sent to louisamare@gmail.com.

The Garden Route Environmental Forum is a public platform for environmental practitioners and a climate change think- tank.(www.grefscli.co.za).

ENDS