Floating Wetlands:
Dale Wright
IBA Conservation Implementation Manager
BirdLife South Africa
Small steps to making a big difference
T
he term “floating wetlands” might at first
conjure up an image of large swathes of
dense papyrus reeds bobbing up and down
in the Okavango Delta. However, these are
floating wetlands of a different, slightly smaller
kind, popping up on farm dams in the Western
Cape. In early 2015, BirdLife South Africa and NCC
Environmental Services, with funding from the Table
Mountain Fund, initiated a pilot project to develop
mechanisms for improving water bird habitat on
farm dams. After spending much time traversing the
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
backroads of the region we noticed that very often
these dams appeared sterile, providing very little
refuge for birds and biodiversity. But did it need to be
that way? Or was it possible to turn these isolated,
artificial water bodies into havens for biodiversity?
Our initial investigations revealed the obvious fact
that these are working dams, whose water levels
fluctuate annually as they are filled and subsequently
drained for irrigation. The changes in water level
prevent vegetation from establishing and surviving.
So, the habitat we envisaged would need to rise and
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