As part of efforts to preserve the country’s water quality, South Africans have been urged to assist in protecting wetlands, which are crucial in water purification. Environmentalists, government officials and communities from all over South Africa gathered in the small town of Kareedouw, near Port Elizabeth recently to mark the World Wetlands Day.

While most wetlands are privately owned, their protection has become a public concern that is currently focused on the role of wetlands in improving water quality and as a habitat for wildlife. Authorities say the environmental benefits of wetlands are vast, notably because of their role in protecting water quality by trapping sediments and retaining excess nutrients and other pollutants such as heavy metals.

Over the past 11 years, 11 large gabion systems and concrete structure have been built at a cost of R10 million to combat erosion that threatened the remaining wetlands.It was estimated that this work had improved water availability by approximately 32 000 litres of water per day per hectare cleared.

A number of local people from the Joubertina and Kareedouw area were currently employed by the ‘working for wetlands’ projects in the region and have received training focusing on technical, business and life skills. Nationally, the working for wetlands project had invested R530 million in the rehabilitation of 906 wetlands, saving more than 70 000 hectares of wetland area and creating more than 12 000 employment opportunities.