SA organisations pledge to protect country's rivers

Abstract

South Africa’s thousands of desecrated wetlands could have played an important role in mitigating some of the effects of the floods experienced at the start of 2011 had they not been destroyed. This was one of the main messages of the Wetlands seminar organised by the Agricultural Research Council’s Institute for Soil Climate and Water (ARC-ISCW) and the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in February. The seminar was held to commemorate World Wetlands Day. More than 114 000 wetlands have been mapped in South Africa to date, covering around 8% of the country’s surface area. Apart from their role in flood attenuation wetlands provide important services and goods to especially rural communities, while playing a role in improving water quality Beneficial role of wetlands highlighted at seminar and providing a habitat for many threatened and endangered species. Wetlands – especially peatlands – have also been shown to be natural carbon stores. The focus this year fell on forested wetlands of which only a few are found in South Africa.

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