News from the water sector (b)

Abstract

NEWS SNIPPETS The Working for Water Programme has benefited biodiversity enormously. Its positive effects have gone beyond job creation and rehabilitating hydrology, and have rescued species that were on the brink of extinction. It was not realized just how damaging invasive alien riparian trees were until they were removed. The problem rests with the fact that invasive alien plants have a pernicious effect that over the years has crept up to blot out indigenous biodiversity. Some dragonfly species were thought to be extinct as they had not been seen for years, with one being rediscovered having last been recorded in 1920. The point is that by removing invasive alien plants in wetland systems, there can be an enormous and immediate benefit. In particular, it is the very rare and localized endemics that have benefited most, with almost instant recovery of the endemic species where the invasive alien trees have been removed. The removal allows adequate sunlight to penetrate the system once more, and for streamside bushes to recover.

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