Annemarie van Wyk is a seasoned, 54-year-old journalist from the Eastern Cape, who is keen to help ensure that stories about people of the Wild Coast reach a wider audience. She argues that issue of marine conservation and the dangers of mining to the natural environment are not particularly high on the news agenda. “Over the last three or four years I have become more and more interested in environmental journalism in part influenced by the reporting of The Guardian newspaper in the UK where editorial staff took the decision to drive the issue of the climate crisis to the fore . . . Unfortunately, I have seen no similar action being taken in South African publications,” says van Wyk. “It is difficult to raise consciousness of a subject that is sometimes so far removed from people’s actual lived lives such as the problems facing rural communities such as those of the Wild Coast.”
Van Wyk has published articles in News24, Business Insider, Vrye Weekblad and Go! knows how to find, research and write stories in a way that is informative, engaging and entertaining across different platforms and to different audiences.
She is keen to understand the issues facing rural communities such as the ones hikers will get to visit on this forthcoming trail, and raise awareness of associated environmental issues.
“The hope is that government and the community at large will mobilise together to act and conserve our natural heritage,” says Van Wyk.
