Programme Director,
CEO of the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Dr Tanya Abrahams,
Distinguished Guests and delegates,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening.
I would like to extend our appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality to the Eastern Cape leadership, just last week I was in this province to celebrate Weedbuster Day and the 18th anniversary of the Working for Water programme.
I am delighted to be part of this initiative of the National Wetlands Indaba that began with five visionary scientists namely Eric Qonya, Donovan Kotze, David Lindley, Nacelle Collins, and John Dini.
These scientists driven by their passion for wetlands conceptualised how they could devise a way to share information about working in the wetlands. At the time they were not aware of the ultimate impact their discussion would have.
Fifteen years later, we have an annual event, in the form of the National Wetland Indaba, which sees about 200 people meeting to discuss ways to better manage and conserve our wetlands.
Wetland stakeholders including scientists, government, municipalities, academics and non-profit organisations meet to discuss and exchange information on various dynamic wetland systems spread all over South Africa.
These annual meetings also make it possible for members of the broader wetlands community to give feedback on numerous projects happening throughout the country. The Indaba is one of various initiatives that were designed to promote cooperation around the management of natural resources, a central part of South Africa’s obligations as a member of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
I am also told that when the annual meetings of the National Wetlands Indaba became overloaded and could not deal with all the issues that the nine provinces face, there arose a need for provincial platforms to discuss rehabilitation plans and to get official input from NGOs, government and other stakeholders at provincial level.
Today there are eight wetland forums with combined memberships reaching above 2 400 people. Gauteng Wetland Forum, Free State/Northern Cape, Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West are all actively involved in ensuring that wetlands are given the priority they deserve.
But why are wetlands so important? Why are you all here?
People’s understanding about wetlands and their functions thirty years ago was limited if not misconstrued. There was a general belief that wetlands were a problem in that they hindered farming operations. As recently as the early 1980s, people were still allowed to drain wetlands for agricultural purposes, with only voices of the biodiversity conservation community being raised in opposition.
The signing of the Ramsar Convention by South Africa as far back as 1975 serves as a proof that there has always been a consciousness around the need for wetland conservation.
What is the status of wetlands in our country as we speak?
According to the 2012 State of Biodiversity report wetlands mapped in South Africa to date cover a total area of over 2.9 million hectares or 2.4% of the country’s surface area. Although they comprise a relatively small percentage of our land area, these ecosystems are a vital ecological infrastructure that provides a range of services to us. They are natural assets able to provide a range of products, functions and services, such as gathering, processing, purifying and delivering water for human use free of charge.
What are the challenges we are still grappling with?
A 2008 assessment identified 7,100 hectares, or 25%, of South Africa’s remaining peatlands as being degraded, which resulted in about 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in 2008 alone.
It is estimated that a further 194 million tons of carbon dioxide could still be released if the remaining healthy peatlands in South Africa were to be degraded. As a result, it is vital to understand and pay attention to wetlands and peatlands in South Africa and how they can form part of our response to mitigating and adapting to climate change; Human society is responsible for the management of water and the management of wetlands.
How are we addressing these challenges? What are the success stories around Wetlands and Wetland Rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation and good management of peatlands can generate multiple benefits including poverty eradication, combating of land degradation, maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change. The collaboration between the Working for Wetlands Programme, the National Wetlands Indaba and the Provincial Wetland Forum is living proof of this.
Since 2002, Working for Wetlands has invested 530 million Rand in the rehabilitation of 906 wetlands, thereby improving or securing the health of more than 70,000 hectares of wetland area. In the process, the programme has provided 12,848 employment opportunities, with 2.2 million person days worked to date.
In line with the emphasis of the Extended Public Works Programme on training, Working for Wetlands has provided 168,400 days of training in both vocational and life skills. Teams are made up of a minimum of 60% women, 20% youth and 1% people with disabilities.
The rehabilitation projects undertaken range from stabilising degradation to the more ambitious restoration of wetlands to their original condition. Projects successfully trap sediment, rewet drained areas and stabilise erosion through activities such as building gabions, re-vegetation and plugging drainage channels.
Recent independent evaluations have confirmed that benefits from rehabilitated wetlands include improved livelihoods, protection of agricultural resources, enhanced biodiversity, cleaner water, reduced impacts from flooding and increased water security.
Conclusion
The Working for Wetlands programme has changed the lives of many of our people for the better. Indeed, South Africa is a better country today than it was twenty years back. I wish you well in your deliberations over the next three days.
Let this Indaba not be another talk shop marred by rhetoric but a channel of collaborative brainstorming that would yield favourable results towards the management and conservation of our Wetlands. A week after the Indaba I would like to see a plan of action.
I would like to end with the words of Africa’s heroine, an environmentalist and a Nobel Peace Laureate, who lived a selfless life dedicated to the protection of the environment, the late Professor Wangari Mathai, I quote:
“I have seen rivers that were brown with silt become clean-flowing again ... The job is hardly over, but it no longer seems impossible.”
I thank you!
For media queries, contact:
Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
Email: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
