Why Two Oceans Aquarium's work with PEOPLE is important in our unequal society

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation is a year into a partnership with Primedia Cares and CapeTalk, formed to deepen public understanding of ocean health, and empower communities to play an active role in protecting our marine ecosystems.

At the time, Primedia Cares chief Trish Taylor said that the initiative made sense because it aligns perfectly with the company's value of "caring for society."

In conversation with Stephen Grootes, the Foundation's executive chaiperson, Ann Lamont, emphasizes how important the link with Corporates that Care is in terms of collaborative work with companies.

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People is where they actually need to focus their work, Lamont says, especially in view of South Africa's societal dynamics.

"One of the challenges in a country with so many complexities is that environment often comes last, but it's so fundamental to our future wellbeing, and the corporates we work with understand that."

While their work behind the scenes is about enriching the space for the animals and managing human interaction, aquariums critically also have a social license, she says.

"Many people don't ever get to pull back the 'blue blanket'... 60% of our population live 30 kms from the coast, yet so many never get to see what's under there - and how can you relate if you can't truly see how magnificent these animals are and make a connection?"

While people might think it's the community that must come to the aquarium, which is expensive, the Foundation does a lot of outreach work.

Aside from catering for school groups on-site, offering classes and courses, teams do visit schools as well.

Communities even have access to a mobile aquarium, which is divided into small tanks and runs on solar power.

"We also use puppets in our outreach work, and we've just started video production with the support of the City of Cape Town, and other amazing things with Primedia Cares... So there are many ways to take the message out, and I think doing this is critical."

Lamont talks about the change they see in people, adults as well as children, after a visit to or experience with the aquarium.

"It is life-changing, and many young people go on to pursue careers in environment. For our visitors as well, when we survey them afterwards something lights up, something changes."

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to this inspiring interview