SANParks and Working for Wetlands In South Africa
As a conservation body, SANParks is committed to conserve and where necessary restore and rehabilitate the wetlands within their Parks to ensure optimum functioning of the wetlands. Where areas outside the Park boundary have a impact on the wetland, these areas will also be considered for rehabilitation.
The Parks have a holistic catchment approach to ultimately deal with all
wetlands impacting within their Parks. The Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), is funding a programme through the South
African National Biodiversity Institute, for wetland rehabilitation
activities. This funding gets accessed through a business plan and is
provided over a three-year cycle.
The programme is a public works programme and is specifically aimed at providing job opportunities for previously disadvantaged individuals. The criteria to access this funding is that the at least 60% of the workers have to be woman, 20% youth and 2% disabled. Training and skills development are also a priority and each worker must get a minimum of 24 days training per annum.
Current Projects
Presently, we have managed to secure R6.799.614-00 over the next three years. This funding, is approved for the Agulhas-, Golden Gate- and Kruger National Parks. We are in the first cycle already and the closing dates for this three-year cycle is March 2007.
A further R550 000-00 has been approved to do maintenance on existing structures in the Kruger National Park and for the construction of a boardwalk through the wetland next to Skukuza nursery. This boardwalk will have interpretive points to describe certain key facets of wetlands.
The program provides jobs for 103 previously disadvantaged people, coming from the local communities adjacent to the Parks.
Future Projects
Most of the National Parks have wetlands within their boundaries and although these wetlands are relatively pristine and conserved through the Parks policy, external factors such as flooding, previous policy and infrastructures such as roads are impacting the wetlands.
A process will be put in place whereby a wetland inventory will be done, simultaneously, evaluating the condition of the wetland. This will feed into a strategy that will prioritise wetlands within the different Parks that needs rehabilitation activities.
This baseline information will be used to access other donor organizations and will assist the Parks to manage their wetlands according to International standards.
RAMSAR Wetland sites
The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty, which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 141 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1387 wetland sites, totalling 122.7 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
Presently the Wilderness Lakes area within the Southern Cape is the only declared RAMSAR site within SANParks. Another wetlands area that is in the process of possible declaration is the Mabyeni pan in the Far Northern Region of the Kruger National Park.
Management framework.
The programme is still in its early days and therefore much work still needs to be done to ensure proper strategic planning to prioritize wetland rehabilitation sites within our Parks. The Invasive Species Control Unit within SANParks, in close liaison with the Conservation Services of the Park, is managing the programme.
Contact details
For any enquiries please contact the Unit Coordinator of the Invasive Species Control Unit of SANParks, Ms Olga Jacobs, at 012 426 5000 or at e-mail address: olgatsanparks.org
For more detail about general functioning of wetlands, the following web site can be consulted: www.sanparks.org
See brochure or visit
www.sanparks.org
for more details.
