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2007 SAB ENVIRONMENTALIST AND
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS
OF THE YEAR AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
[Johannesburg, 11 October 2007] Green and brown issues took centre
stage at the SAB Environmentalist of the Year and Environmental
Journalists of the Year Awards which were held at the SAB World of
Beer in Newtown.
Andrew Muir, executive director of the Wilderness Foundation, was
named Environmentalist of the Year and received the Nick Steele
Memorial Award for his work. The award is given in honour of the
late legendary game ranger Nick Steele, and honours an
environmentalist who has promoted the cause of conservation and
whose work will leave a legacy for years to come. The merit award in
this category went to Joe Matimba, project manager at Food and Trees
for Africa.
Karl Ammann was named SAB Environmental Journalist in the broadcast
category for his documentary The Cairo Connection, which was
broadcast on SABC2’s 50/50. Ammann is one of the world’s top
environmental journalists – he is already the winner of the
prestigious Dolly Green Award for Artistic Achievement at the
Genesis Awards, for his work on the illegal bush-meat trade in
Cameroon. The Cairo Connection looks at the illegal smuggling of
primates from Africa.
Honoured alongside him as SAB Environmental Journalist in the print
& internet category was Elise Tempelhoff of Beeld. The judges’
commended her for the huge amount of research that goes into her
stories – some, like her article on the impact of gold mines in the
West Rand on the environment, were investigated over a period of
five years.
Merit winners in the broadcast category were Anneliese Burgess for
Heat and Running on Empty broadcast on SABC3’s Special Assignment;
Liz Fish for SABC’s poignant The Spirit of the Mountain and Tekweni
Television’s Sandra Herrington for her documentary on the illegal
development at Kosi Bay.
Print & internet merit winners were Jorisna Bonthuys of Die Burger
for a body of work; Roberta Griffiths for the youth publication
EnviroKids; freelancer Leoni Joubert, who has specialised in climate
change in the South African context; Leon Marshall of The Star for a
series on transfrontier-park development in Southern Africa, and
Sophia Swanepoel and Laskarina Yiannakaris for the Eco Babe column
in True Love Babe, which integrates green living into everyday lives
rather than treat it like a fad.
Along with the coveted title, the three category winners each took
home R15 000. Merit winners received R2 000.
In an effort to make the event more carbon-friendly, a tree will be
planted in each guest’s name/on behalf of each guest? in Soweto as
part of the 2010 Soweto Greening Project.
There were a record number of 127 entries this year but according to
the panel of judges, what was even more gratifying was the high
standard of entries received for the awards. The judges were JP Louw;
Jeunesse Park; “The Lion Man” Gareth Patterson; Dr Ian Player;
Windsor Shuenyane and John Yeld.
Says Tony van Kralingen, MD of SAB Limited: “We are both honoured
and proud to see how the awards have gone from strength to strength
over the past two decades, and become South Africa’s most
prestigious accolade for journalists producing crucial environmental
coverage. The number and quality of entries is a clear indication
that the South African media are placing a stronger focus on
environmental matters – and for this we commend them. As the
gatekeepers and voice of our society, the media have a defining role
to play in educating the public about the ever-increasing
environmental challenges our country, and our world, face.”
ENDS
Editor’s Notes:
The full list of winners of the 2007 SAB Environmentalist and
Environmental Journalist of the Year Awards, including merit awards,
are:
The Nick Steele Memorial Award for the SAB Environmentalist of the
Year
Andrew Muir
Executive director of the Wilderness Foundation
Andrew Muir is recognised as one of South Africa’s leading
conservationists, who has raised over R200-million for conservation
and social development programmes and who has had an impact on the
lives of thousands of South Africans.
Muir, during 20 years of concentrated work, has been actively
linking environmental and social solutions at critical junctures in
South Africa’s history. Concentrating on wild habitats, he has
understood natural areas as a context for both social and
environmental reform. Programmes that he initiated since 1987 have
impacted on nearly 100 000 South Africans, dominated by those from
previously disadvantaged backgrounds.
As an environmental activist and leader who targets community
influencers – youth leaders, politicians and opinion leaders – Muir
develops opportunities for extending socio-political perceptions
(among youth during the apartheid era), reforming environmental
legislation (opinion leader trails at birth of democratic
governance), developing environmental awareness among emerging young
black leaders (Imbewu trails led by previously unrecognised role
models) and for activating a future for orphans of the Aids crisis (Umzi
Wethu, an environmentally focused skills development initiative for
job placement).
In 2000, Muir joined the Wilderness Foundation as the executive
director in South Africa. It aims to protect and sustain the African
wilderness and wildlands through holistic and integrated
conservation, social and educational programmes and political
lobbying.
He has a Masters Degree in Environment and Development from the
University of Natal and serves on a number of non-profit and
conservation boards. In addition, he is a co-founder and trustee of
Usiko Rites of Passage, chairman of the Wilderness Leadership School
Trust, board member of the WILD Foundation (US), associate of the
Gaia Foundation (UK), director of the Board of Open Africa
Initiative and Member and deputy chairperson of the Eastern Cape
Provincial Parks Board. He has presented keynote addresses
throughout the world.
Environmentalist of the Year Merit Award
Joe Matimba
Project manager at Food and Trees for Africa
Food and Trees for Africa is the first and only national
non-government, non-profit, greening organisation in South Africa.
In 2006, 194 communities received 32 723 trees. Matimba’s
contribution to the organisation is huge. He is involved in
developing environmental upliftment and educational projects in
communities and schools while working with schools, churches and
youth organisations in greening initiatives and permaculture food
gardening projects. He also promotes self-sustainable development,
organic food production and environmental greening activities in
schools, home-based care centres, hospices, prisons and communities,
while promoting sustainable utilisation of natural resources for
environmental, economic growth, educational, recreational, cultural,
health and spiritual purposes. He also compiles reports for
sponsors, and course and workshop educational materials for project
members.
SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year (Broadcast)
Karl Ammann
The Cairo Connection
50/50 SABC 2
Hundreds of primates – including Africa’s big apes, chimpanzees and
gorillas – are being smuggled out of Africa. Ammann painstakingly
researched and tracked the way these apes are being smuggled
“legally” and illegally out of central Africa to the Middle East and
then on to the rest of the world – this while some authorities are
fully aware of what is going on. The programme was self-funded and
not produced on the instruction of a particular broadcaster – the
idea being to expose a terrible wrong, regardless of cost and
effort. After the programme was aired on 50/50 the show received
immense feedback from viewers, who were shocked and angry at what
had been exposed. These included influential people with government
connections in some African countries who requested copies to show
abroad and possibly put pressure on those who can make a difference
to the suffering of these defenceless wild animals. The judges felt
that productions like The Cairo Connection endure in the mind of the
viewing public and make a lasting impression regarding important
environmental concerns.
Broadcast Merit Winners
Anneliese Burgess
Heat/Running on Empty
Special Assignment SABC 3
Anneliese Burgess won this award for two of her programmes broadcast
on Special Assignment – Heat, which looked at how global warming
will affect South Africa, and Running on Empty, which focused on
Marine and Coastal Management (MCM), one of the country’s most
important environmental agencies, which has run out of money. The
judges praised them for being “polished productions which got to the
core of the issue and are immensely thought-provoking. They
importantly underline that environmental issues are not separate to
human issues and that when we speak about the environment we are
also speaking about our own survival”.
Liz Fish
The Spirit of the Mountain
SABC 3
Lindela is raised in the Eastern Cape by his grandmother until being
taken to Cape Town at the age of 12. His life is changed forever
when he climbs Table Mountain. The lyrical story from this veteran
anti-apartheid film maker is a quintessential SA story about the
children, women and old people forgotten in the rural areas – and
the pain of being abandoned. The story stood out because of the
filmmaker’s ability to blend spirituality in an inspirational human-centred
environmental story. The impact is an inspirational one for South
Africa’s youth, reinforcing important links between young people,
the environment and spirituality.
Sandra Herrington
Kosi Bay illegal development
Tekweni Television
Three years ago Sandra Herrington reported on the environmental
degradation in the Kosi Bay area of the greater St Lucia Wetland
Park. A revisit showed an area in serious trouble. More and more
people are moving into the area and laying claim to the land. The
programme examines whether it is possible to successfully
accommodate communities inside a World Heritage site. The judges
praised the programme for its vibrant portrayal of a pressing
environmental issue. The production emphasises once again that
environmental concerns of South Africa's coast, of which people are
the core, cannot be ignored.
SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year Print & Internet
Elise Tempelhoff
Beeld
Environmental journalist for Beeld, Elize Tempelhoff, has won for
her impressive body of work. The judges commended her for the huge
amount of research that goes into her stories – like her article on
the impact of gold mines in the West Rand on the environment were
investigated over a period of five years. Tempelhoff’s tenacity has
certainly paid off and she has convinced her editors to give her
substantial editorial space over time. Elise also realises that
follow up is an integral part of an environmental journalist’s work.
Her stories have real impact in terms of showing results – some have
been quoted in scientific articles by the CSIR, which has also used
them in presentations. Other issues she has focused on during the
past year include the search for cheap coal in South Africa’s
vulnerable wetlands and the story of the controversial De Hoop Dam.
Tempelhoff presented a paper “A Story of Two Dams” on the De Hoop
Dam and the Nandoni Dam in Finland in June.
Print & Internet Merit winners:
Jorisna Bonthuys
Die Burger
Jorisna Bonthuys’ body of work examines the impact of biodiversity
losses involving the habitat, agriculture and climate change as well
as policy issues and the impact they have on both humans and
ecosystems. Articles focused on the impact of development decisions
and the continued pressure on water sources and biodiversity along
the South Coast; rooibos tea farming in the country and mining in
the Richtersveld. The judges said: “Bonthuys’ commitment to the
issues she covers really stands out in her work. She clearly does a
huge amount of research, which she is able to synthesise into a very
readable whole.”
Roberta Griffiths
EnviroKids
For nearly three decades EnviroKids (previously Toktokkie magazine)
has strived to promote environmental awareness and education among
children. It’s published quarterly by the Wildlife and Environmental
Society of SA and plays a strong role in environmental education. It
produces stimulating articles that are easily understood by first-
and second-language readers. The magazine content is in demand by
school text book publishers and four themes have been reprinted at
the request of government agencies for their own use. The judges
regard the magazine as “a real investment in the future” and believe
that the presentation meets the needs of young people and is both
informative and entertaining.
Leoni Joubert
Freelance
Leoni Joubert’s interest in climate change began with a trip to
Marion Island in 2003 to study its impact on the natural environment
of this remote sub-Antarctic wilderness. She went on to write a
series of articles also focusing on climate change in South Africa.
The result was Scorched: SA’s Changing Climate, which was published
in November 2006 by Wits University Press. Since the launch, she has
been commissioned to write articles on the subject for many
different titles. The judges said “her work is remarkable in terms
of the depth and breadth of material covered. She explains climate
change in the South African context relating it to the global
concern for this phenomenon”.
Leon Marshall
The Star
The three articles that won Leon Marshall a merit award are
representative of a series the journalist did on transfrontier park
development in Southern Africa. The series has dealt with the tough
realities of trying to put the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
together, the resounding success of Kgalagadi and the dream of one
day having a continuous parkland reading from SA’s Augrabies
National Park along the entire coast of Namibia and across the
Kunene to include Angola’s Iona Park. The judges’ felt Marshall
shows “an innate ability to take a subject and research it very
thoroughly then communicate it in a very reader friendly
understandable way. He has trailblazed some very important issues
that others have then picked up on”.
Sophia Swanepoel and Laskarina Yiannakaris
Eco Babe Column, True Love Babe
The magazine realised that many young consumers in their target
market were ill aware of environmental concerns and that green
issues were not regarded as very “glam”. Against this background
Sophia Swanepoel and Laskarina Yiannakaris – both avid
environmentalists – started a monthly column to gradually create
awareness and understanding of earth crises. They believe it is
important to integrate green living into everyday lives rather than
treat it like a fad. The judges were knocked out. “It’s fun! They’re
reaching a new market in a really accessible way, and people who
will be very influential in the future.”
Media queries
Hannalie Coetzee
Dlamini Weil Communications
Hannalie@dwcs.co.za
011 804-1485 |