WWF’s Living Planet Award 2024 winners announced

Two activist groups, who successfully halted seismic testing off the Wild Coast, and a well-known philanthropist couple are commended for their contribution towards people and planet.

WWF’s Living Planet Award is made annually to exceptional South Africans who, through their catalytic contribution, inspire people to live in harmony with nature. The 2024 winners were named at WWF South Africa’s annual general meeting in Cape Town. They are:

• The Amadiba Crisis Committee and Sustaining the Wild Coast (Organisation)
• Pamela and Neville Isdell (Individual)

Organisational category award

The Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) was formed in 2007, by the residents of Xolobeni, located in the Amadiba region of the Eastern Cape, to fight the threat of proposed titanium mining on the Wild Coast and later the rerouting of the N2 highway along the coast.

Since then, and in the face of intense pressure, including the assassination of their chair Bazooka Radebe in 2016, they have fought for their community, indigenous belief systems, ecology, land and sustainability.

Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC) is a small non-profit organisation committed to listening to, building relationships with, and bravely amplifying the voices of the Amadiba people who are determined to protect their land from destruction in a highly volatile environment.

WWF recognised both the ACC and SWC for their steadfast approach to furthering the cause of sustainable use and community wellbeing, and in particular for their recent role, through court action, in the halting of seismic testing for oil and gas (by Shell) off the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape.

The court found that Shell’s consultations were inadequate and should have included the entire affected coastal communities. It also ruled that, when granting approval to Shell, the government had failed to consider the potential harm to local fishermen’s livelihoods, the impact on Mpondo cultural and spiritual rights, and the contribution of gas and oil exploitation to climate change.

This action saw the ACC and SWC, led by Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu respectively, assert the rights of local communities to safeguard the marine resources they depend on along with their cultural heritage and belief system in a particularly biodiverse and beautiful part of the South African coastline.

Individual category

As a couple, Pamela and Neville Isdell are deeply involved in social philanthropy and conservation efforts in South Africa, Africa, and indeed around the world.

During the course of Neville’s 43-year career, he took the world’s largest beverage company – The Coca Cola Company – to new heights while expanding on its corporate responsibility legacy and embedding sustainability throughout the organisation.

Closely associated with this legacy is his concept of ‘Connected Capitalism’, centred around the idea that companies can contribute to the resolution of social problems and be agents for positive change while ensuring sustainable and profitable growth in the 21st century.

After his retirement, Neville was Chair of the WWF US board for over a decade and also served as President of the WWF global network. He is still presently involved in WWF in the US, and sits on the board of the Peace Parks Foundation.

Together, Pamela and Neville Isdell were early supporters of WWF South Africa, offering generous grants to our work in the Grasslands Biome which has now matured into the development of a new Grasslands National Park in the Eastern Cape.

In the last six years, the Isdells have been closely involved in supporting the WWF Conservation Champion programme, which works with farms to safeguard the botanical and natural treasures of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Another initiative that has enjoyed their recent backing is the Sustainable Finance Coalition. This coalition a driving force for the incubation and implementation of finance solutions at their point of impact on natural landscapes across Africa.