Today, 30 November, is Remembrance of Lost Species Day – a day that commemorates the extinct species and creates awareness of threatened species.
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Events to commemorate the day take place worldwide and today there’ll be a commemoration event at Glen Beach, Camps Bay in Cape Town. Event organisers Joanne Fairbrother and Tarryn van Wyk claim that this day is for those who want to grieve and create awareness of threatened species in the age of the Anthropecene, the current geological age wherein the earth is dominated and influenced by humankind.
‘Animals and plants are being lost at an unprecedented rate with dozens of species going extinct every day. We have rituals for human achievements, religious rituals, and even rituals celebrating consumerism, but we have no rituals for coping with extinction, ecological or environmental loss,’ the organisers mentioned in a statement.
Despite the sad reason for this event, the day will be filled with commemorative activities and has been described as ‘a creative gathering’. The event begins at 2pm and will continue on after sunset and through until 9pm the night.
‘Beachscriber’ Andrew van der Merwe is a letter artist and designer who will be taking his talent to the beach sands. Van der Merwe will mark this year’s event by recording the names of extinct species in the sand at Glen Beach. The names won’t remain on the beach forever, of course, and the idea is that the tide will wash the names away as a symbolic, albeit poignant, acknowledgement of all the species lost.
The itinerary is as follows:
2pm – 4pm: The Beach Scriber workshop and sand creations
4pm – 7pm: The tides turn at 4pm and will wash the art away.
7pm – 9pm: Sunset picnic, lighting of the extinction symbol, fire dancing
The theme for this year’s commemorative gathering will centre on Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) a large marine mammal that has been extinct for 250 years now.
For a taste of what is to come, check out the Beachscriber’s homage to one of SA’s extinct big cats:
