JANUARY 2018

Many wetlands in urban areas across South Africa have either been turned into wastelands or drained for urban development, while in peri-urban and rural areas wetland are also used for cultivation. With rapidly growing populations in cities, increased waste production and the high demand for development areas are key factors contributing to the poor health of urban wetland ecosystems, thus contributing to decreased ecosystem goods and services. Biswas et al (2010) are of the opinion that the value of wetlands is not often recognized and as a result wetland and their associated values are often lost through inappropriate development or used inefficiently, allowing for them to be considered as endangered ecosystems. Although South Africa has many conservation laws protecting wetland ecosystems from such destruction, enforcing these laws and ensuring compliance remains a challenge. Law enforcement challenges coupled with lack of awareness and education saw a rapid increase of degraded wetlands, with some disappearing completely under rapid urban development.

These challenges raise a question: What role can civil society play in minimizing the degradation of wetland ecosystems in urban areas? This question takes us to a case study of the Wise Wayz Water Care (WWWC) programme that involves ordinary community members taking an active, participatory role in protecting their local natural environments, including wetlands.

The WWWC programme, funded by AECI, is a community development programme based in the south of Durban in Folweni and Ezimbokodweni areas, these areas are considered to be amongst the poorest in the eThekwini Municipality. The programme aims to have a high social impact in strengthening the local community. This is achieved through empowering communities with skills and knowledge to understand the value and benefit of their local natural environments, and how to best protect their aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, to turn environmental impacts into opportunities for building their livelihoods while protecting their natural environments.

Despite the challenges faced by the Ezimbokodweni community, the WWWC programme members want to see a positive change in the state of their local natural environments. One of the most exciting activities undertaken by this group of volunteers is restoring their local wetland system which lies in the midst of houses within Ezimbokodweni. Locals lacking appropriate knowledge regarding wetlands often see wetlands as an obstruction and a nuisance, serving as a breeding ground for mosquitos, as some community members have claimed, “mosquitos are giving us a hard time and everyone at Ezimbokodweni is complaining about them”. In addition, wetlands are seen as overgrown areas that acts as hiding place for criminals, and harbour dangerous animals such as snakes which slither into their houses, putting their families in danger. Wetlands turned into wastelands have become the “new normal” in many urban areas.

Based on the challenges the Ezimbokodweni Wetland faced, the WWWC programme, when it was established in 2016, identified interventions that would be, and are still being, undertaken in efforts to restore the wetland:

Sinqonqozela Ulwazi (We knock for knowledge) This intervention focuses on building knowledge relating to both social and ecological challenges within the community. The Sinqonqozela Ulwazi team visits the households of their community members in efforts to share knowledge about wetlands and other aquatic systems, their functions and values, and to build an understanding of the community’s perceptions of their local wetland, including the myths associated with wetlands. Through this activity, it has become clear that local communities have extremely limited knowledge about their natural environment, especially wetlands. Furthermore, challenges such as poor waste collection practices and the infestation of alien vegetation has resulted in the poor state of the Ezimbokodweni wetland. Because of these challenges this wetland was perceived as a nuisance and its ecological value was not realised. Many people were seen dumping their

A community connecting with their local WETLAND: The Wise Wayz Water Care Story

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household waste in the wetland without realising the negative impacts of their actions. Through this education programme, communities, especially those living adjacent to the wetland have developed an understanding of the wetland and through the restoration efforts by the WWWC team, they have seen the benefits of having a functioning pristine wetland.

Community members of Ezimbokodweni collecting water from

their local wetland, thus realising the value and benefit of a healthy

wetland.

Solid waste removal and recyclingIn Ezimbokodweni, community members place their waste at centrally located points within the community, from these central points the waste is collected, either by eThekwini Municipality or municipal contractors. As mentioned, waste dumping was one of the major challenges facing this wetland, which has been exacerbated by the fact that the local waste collection point is located directly above the wetland. The area where the wetland is situated, is serviced by a municipal contractor and sometimes the waste that is placed by community members is not collected by the contractor, or the contractor does not take all the waste. This causes the waste to end up in the wetland as the dogs in the community break open the rubbish bags and the waste is scattered everywhere, thus finding its way into the wetland. Another challenge related to waste was that, due to the ineffective collection system, community members would often dispose of their solid waste by throwing it into the wetland, especially when it was heavily infested by invasive plants and people could not see what was happening within the wetland area.

Alien plant and waste management teams removing alien vegetation

and waste from the wetland in Ezimbokodweni

Through this intervention the WWWC team removes solid waste from the wetland and sorts it for recycling purposes. Since the start of the Sinqonqozela Ulwazi education programme, community members have refrained from throwing rubbish in the wetland and some of them are now acting as watchdogs, preventing others from throwing their solid waste in the wetland.

Alien Invasive Plant removal

Alien Plant team removing alien vegetation from the wetland.

The WWWC team started removing Alien Invasive Plants, mostly category 1s i.e. Tithonia diversifolia, Lantana camara, Ricinus communis, Tecoma stans, Solanum mauritianum, Argeratum conyzoides, Arundo donax to name a few. The removal process started in February 2016 and today, in January 2018 the wetland site is clear of all the alien invasive plants that once infested this wetland. The team continue to maintain the site twice a month to ensure that no alien vegetation thrives on this wetland. The wetland is showing good signs of recovery as the natural fauna and flora associated with wetlands has re-established. Thus, improving the biodiversity and functioning of the wetland.

Aquatic Monitoring

Ntombifuthi Cele, one of the monitoring team members collecting

samples during one of the monthly routine monitoring.

The aquatic monitoring team assess the condition of the wetland on a monthly basis, using citizen science tools. The results so far have shown a slow but steady improvement in the health of the wetland and its functioning. The water at the wetland outlet is clearer than the water at the inlet of the wetland, an indication that the wetland is fulfilling its function of improving water quality by trapping soil and other particles suspended in water as it enters the wetland. The results also indicate that the efforts made through interventions mentioned above, are improving the condition of the wetland.

WWWC volunteers restored a highly degraded wetland into a healthy,

functioning ecosystem.

The efforts of the Wise Wayz Water Care Programme have had a significant impact on the Ezimbokodweni Wetland. Before the rehabilitation began, the wetland was a dumping site, covered from edge to edge in invasive alien plants and solid waste. It was regarded as useless and a nuisance to community members. Today, the wetland is a thriving, functioning ecosystem, prized by the community as a place of peace and tranquillity.

Public participation and the involvement of local communities in actively protecting our wetland ecosystems are vital in winning the battle against continuous pollution and degradation of wetlands. Involvement of local communities, especially in marginalised communities, requires appropriate education and awareness, as is the case with the Wise Wayz Water Care programme. All too often, projects and programmes include clean-up campaign after clean-up campaign, without any meaningful change in the management of our wetlands and aquatic ecosystems. This meaningful change can only be achieved through a holistic approach which addresses causes and effects, and involves people on the ground who can make a positive change to their local environments. Ordinary citizens can make an impactful contribution when they have the necessary knowledge and understanding of their local natural environments. Taking the social challenges faced by communities into account is also vital in getting the communities on board. Environmental justice is driven by social change.

Programme Funder:

Programme implementer:

Authors: Ntswaki Ditlhale, Kirsten Mahood and Charles Mzobe,

Organisation: i4WATER, Email: ntswaki@i4WATER.org

To find out more about WIN-SA visit www.wrc.org.za or email: hlengiwec@wrc.org.za

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