World Oceans Day focus: With extinction looming by 2035, the African penguin needs urgent help. Relate Bracelets and SANCCOB are creating a lifeline for coastal birds and answering that call.
June 8th marked World Oceans Day – a global initiative in over 180 countries, calling on individuals, communities, and governments to protect marine ecosystems essential to life. It’s also a moment to spotlight powerful partnerships making a tangible difference. For over 15 years, Relate Bracelets has supported more than 100 causes through a sustainable model-handmade cause bracelets that raise funds for impact partners like SANCCOB, while creating income for township-based seniors and young adult crafters.
“There’s power in small actions when people are placed at the centre,” says Dalit Shekel, CEO of Relate Bracelets, a South African not-for-profit social enterprise. “Partnerships like this show how purpose, structure, and storytelling can come together to create tangible impact.”
Of the 100+ causes Relate Bracelets has supported to date, one is especially relevant in light of World Oceans Day and beyond: Its partnership with the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). An internationally recognised leader in rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds and a key contributor to research and education in the field, SANCCOB is renowned for its dedication to protecting the endangered African penguin.
“We’re incredibly proud of the Relate Bracelets partnership with SANCCOB,” says Shekel. “Not only because of its vital conservation work, but also because of the heart, grit and science which lie behind that work. The African penguin is the only penguin native to Africa and the only one listed as critically endangered. With fewer than 10 000 breeding pairs left and extinction predicted by 2035, urgent help is needed and SANCCOB shows what’s possible when an extraordinary team works tirelessly to rescue, rehabilitate and release Africa’s only penguin species.”
The Relate Bracelets – SANCCOB partnership also shows what’s possible when organisations combine their expertise and commitment to achieve a significant goal. “Small actions can create big ripple effects,” notes Shekel, and sales of Relate’s SANCCOB cause bracelets have already raised close to R500 000.
“In a country rooted in Ubuntu, the spirit of care and responsibility should extend to animals, and this includes balancing human needs and wildlife survival in an ecosystem in which coastal birds are crucial.”
Founded in 1968, SANCCOB’s dedication to seabird conservation made headline news in March when it succeeded in a landmark year-long legal case against the South African government in the Pretoria High Court.
“Taking legal action was a last resort,” says Natalie Maskell, SANCCOB CEO. “But years of disagreements between the conservation sector and fishing industry, coupled with the ongoing decline of the African penguin population, convinced us and BirdLife South Africa that there was no other choice. Our belief that urgent interventions were essential was confirmed when the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) uplisted the African penguin to critically endangered during the year of litigation.
“In March, we achieved a major win in the protection of coastal birds and a hard-won agreement by order of the Pretoria High Court: A 10-year no-take zone for commercial sardine and anchovy fisheries around six African penguin breeding colonies and foraging areas.” Next up after a legal battle Maskell describes as “a long and difficult road”?
“Continuing our work towards improving protection for the African penguin,” she says.
