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wetlands — English
Water dominated areas with poor drainage and soils that are water saturated for the larger part of the year or all-year round. Wetlands are known by many names: marshes, bogs, swamps, pans, vleis, floodplains and riverbanks up to 10 metres below the ten-year flood-mark. Wetlands support a specialised type of vegetation like waterlilies and hyacinths, reeds, rush, bamboo, swamp grass and watergrass. Wetlands play an extremely varied and important role in the environment: it supports specific animals, fish, amphibians (frogs, toads), mammals (otters and beavers), reptiles (crocodiles, iguanas, terrapins), insects, waterbirds and birds that live on fish or breed in the specialised wetland environments. Wetlands serve as sponges that delay runoff water, it replenishes groundwater resources, it prevents flooding of cities and towns by delaying the floodwater of rivers, and it purifies polluted water by filtering the water and some of the vegetation absorbs some chemical substances. Human activities have already destroyed most of the wetlands on earth. Crops like rice have been planted in them; they have been drained for the cultivation of other crops; their water supplies have been cut off by damwalls and irrigation canals and the wetlands have simply dried out; mines have released hazardous waste water into wetlands and all the animals have either fled or died, while the hazardous substances have seeped into the underground water resources and have thus spread the pollution. Years ago environmentalists realised that without wetlands the global ecosystem is at serious threat. The protection of the few remaining ones and the rehabilitation of degraded wetlands has become a high-profile international issue. At the Ramsar Convention in 1975 certain wetlands in all parts of the world were declared as internationally important and enjoy special protection. South Africa boasts quite a number of Ramsar sites, like the St Lucia estuary, the Wakkerstroom wetlands, and Nylsvley near Modimolle. It is our responsibility to protect not only the Ramsar wetlands but all other wetlands in the country. Under the aegis of the National Department of Water Affairs, a special organisation, called “Working for Wetlands” developed under the umbrella body called “Working for Water”. It is a co-operation between the public and private sectors, and has already made a laudable contribution to saving our most crucial resource, namely water!
