On 21 March each year, the world celebrates International Day of the Forest. This special day highlights the importance of forests to people such as cleaning the air we breathe for us and providing us with wood for creating books, stationery and musical instruments.

Scientists are more than 95% certain that nearly all of global warming is caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases and other human emissions. If we don't change our our attitudes towards climate change, we risk facing food shortages and the extinction of many wildlife species. 

Marine biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life that we find in the oceans and seas. Marine biodiversity must be preserved because it creates jobs through tourism, provides raw materials for medicine and acts as a food source for both human beings and other animals. 

Do we know what Cycads are?  These ancient plants go as far back as the dinosaurs. Cycads are slow-growing plants but can live hundreds of years and resemble a palm or fern but are not related.

Forests play a vital role in biodiversity. They provide food and shelter for the many species found in them. In forests, some animals live in the forest canopy while others live on the ground and under shrubs and all share an interconnected food chain.

There are some 2 600 species of fish in our seas including 270 families of fishes represented in South Africa, equivalent to 83% of all marine fish families known. Strikingly, up to 13% are endemic, ranking amongst the highest anywhere else in the world.

World Fisheries Day is celebrated every year on the 21st of November to highlight the importance of fish stocks in our oceans. Fishing provides food and jobs for people and in return boosts a country's economy. 

Learn about the marine laws that govern and protect our marine environments

South African turtles, terrapins and tortoises. South Africa has five of the seven kinds of sea turtles occurring in its coastal and off-shore waters.

How much do we know about Earthworms? Worms are invertebrates meaning they do not have a backbone, instead, they wiggle, crawl and slide. Earthworms have no eyes or ears and breathe through their skin.