Fighting environmental crime cannot be done without the support and assistance of our Members and other concerned Landowners and residents. On the 13th of January a group of people were caught trespassing and harvesting plants illegally in the CRR in Doornrandje. They were chased and caught by two Landowners and their workers.
SDS was called out under their contract with the CRR and they contacted the police. After a number of hours waiting for the arrival of the police the suspects were taken to the Erasmia Police Station accompanied by the Landowners on whose properties they had trespassed and a CRR representative. The result was a formal warning on record with a reference number. This ensures that should these individuals be found in the CRR again carrying out any illegal environmental activity they will be arrested immediately. The bags of stolen plants were confiscated. This incident has also resulted in an invitation to the CRR and GDARDE to do a presentation at the Erasmia Police Station on Environmental Crime, why it’s important to take action, and the Legislation. This will be taking place in March and will hopefully encourage the police to take Environmental Crime more seriously in the future as well as forge a better relationship between the CRR and the Erasmia police.
We would like to thank all the Landowners and their workers who spent almost an entire day ensuring there were consequences to this illegal activity. We believe this kind of persistence will eventually make the CRR a place environmental criminals would prefer to avoid.
