Last year's Big Biodiversity Challenge participants attending the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) Conference in Cape Town.
Calling all eco-warriors, creators, and future scientists! If you are in Grades 6 to 9 and live in the Western Cape, it is time to turn your boldest ideas into real-world action. The Western Cape Environmental Education Friends (WCEEF)—alongside major green champions like CapeNature, SANParks, and the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation—has officially launched The Big Biodiversity Challenge.
This year’s competition ties directly into international Biodiversity Month this May, running under the global 2026 theme: “Acting Locally for Global Impact.” According to Khuthala Swanepoel, Chair for the WCEEF and the Deputy Director for Sustainable Awareness, Education & Empowerment Department: DEA & DP (Western Cape Government), “The theme underscores how small, community-driven actions can drive meaningful global change and calls on all stakeholders to contribute to local initiatives that support a healthy, sustainable environment where people and nature can thrive together.”
Competition poster.
This is not your average school assignment. The competition invites learners to submit innovative action-based projects that address the diverse threats facing biodiversity by “not only proposing solutions, but also trying, testing, or putting their ideas into practice.”
