WESSA paid tribute to a wide range of outstanding environmental achievements with the presentation of the organisation’s Annual Awards. These Awards were presented at the organisation’s 90th AGM, and Mariette Liefferink of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment was one of the recipients.
The WESSA Awards, which have been presented since 1974, enable WESSA to recognise and honour those who have made a significant contribution to the environmental conservation or environmental education sector in South Africa over the past year in an exceptional and sustained manner.
In celebration of the organisation’s 90-year anniversary of Caring for the Earth, WESSA presented awards in a number of additional categories this year. The 90 Lifetime Conservation Achiever Awards category, which was introduced for the occasion, provided a unique opportunity to acknowledge 90 living individuals who have dedicated their lives to conservation in South Africa.
The WESSA Individual Award was presented posthumously to Chris Skinner, the WESSA Group Award recipient was the Magaliesberg Protection Association and the WESSA Award for Corporates went to the film “Blood Lions” and also to the Morning Sun Nature Reserve in Limpopo.
WESSA also played tribute to outgoing Chairman Dr Richard Lewis for his more than 13 years of service to WESSA as a Board member, including six years as Chairman. Dr Lewis was commended for his “enthusiasm and strategic planning skills” in re-positioning WESSA to meet today’s challenges and for “his unstinting support for the mission and vision of the organisation”.