ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCE Kumba Iron Ore believes that an environmental education centre will allow school learners and tertiary students to experience nature and learn in a natural environment
Diversified miner Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore Sishen mine opened the Sishen Education Centre at Tamaga Lodge, situated on the Sishen Nature Reserve, outside Kathu, in the Northern Cape, as part of its celebration of World Environment Day, in June.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government Gazette declared the Sishen mine-owned farms Brookes and Bredenkamp provincial nature reserves in April this year. The primary purpose of the Sishen Nature Reserve is to conserve a representative portion of the Kathu Bushveld ecosystem for the benefit of the community.
The opening of the education centre on the reserve creates an opportunity for Sishen to make a positive impact towards environmental education for the youth in the Northern Cape. The education centre will be run in partnership with nongovernmental organisation Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa), which currently runs environmental education centres (EECs) in a sustainable manner at different locations in South Africa.
Through the EEC, the school learners and tertiary students can experience nature, and learn in an inspirational natural environment, Kumba Iron Ore CEO Themba Mkhwanazi highlighted.
The centre will further focus on supporting the learning of environmental sciences and maths and, in so doing, assist to raise regional pass rates through nurturing interest and understanding of the world.
“Kumba sees this initiative as a long-term community investment project that will uplift the local communities surrounding the Kumba mines, even beyond the life of Sishen.”