WESSA – ‘Promoting public participation in caring for the Earth’

Created in 1926, the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) is one of the oldest NGO is the country! Their projects are linked with education, sustainable development, climate change and energy. More than 200 people are working for WESSA today, all around the country. Phillip Wilkinson, project manager at the East London branch, explains us what WESSA is about. 

SparkTour Africa: Why WESSA was created in 1926?

Phillip Wilkinson, project manager at the East London branch: The organization was established to look at how civil society can play a role in conservation. Predominantly at that time it was more around species conservation, about how do you protect these animals.

88 years after the creation, what are your mission and your main projects?

Today, our missions are slightly different! Now, we look at conservation coming into the mix of environmental education, human capacity development and advocacy. We really want to work on interactions between people and environment. It relies more and more on full staff, whereas 80 years ago it was more membership-driven. We are operating all over South Africa, and each area has its own projects. At a national level for example, there is a sustainability and energy programme, we work on ‘eco-schools’ programme, and we publish magazines like ‘EnviroKids’ to engage the youth.

‘We look at conservation coming into the mix of environmental education, human capacity development and advocacy.’

Could you give two words about the ESKOM programme that you are personally running?

We created a partnership programme with the Chris Hani district to look at various ways to provide municipal service to remote areas in an environmentally sustainable way. Sometimes, it is not necessary to have centralized systems, like taking your electricity and your water from town to each village. Decentralized systems with renewable energies are often relevant in that case.

Could you give three words to describe the spirit of WESSA?

Three words will be hard (laugh)! But generally, people working in a NGO keep the same spirit of commitment and enthusiasm about the work they are doing. They are not here to collect a bid paycheck at the end of the month.

‘Generally, people working in a NGO keep the same spirit of commitment and enthusiasm about the work they are doing. They are not here to collect a bid paycheck at the end of the month.’

What is the biggest challenge for WESSA?

The biggest challenge is being able to keep moving forward. The ability to access funding is always changing. Funding is like going fishing! You have got to try a lot before you catch something.