As a country , we are still grappling with the impacts of mining , industrial development , and large-scale commercial agriculture and forestry on our wetlands , but we should in essence now be moving into an era of ‘ wise use ’, or at least people-centred wetland management . South Africa has already lost an estimated 50 % of its wetlands , to mining , agriculture and industrial development , urbanisation and pollution . A large body of research exists on our wetlands , much of which has been funded by the Water Research Commission ( WRC ).
One of the Commission ’ s most popular products , used widely by environmental practitioners nationally and internationally , is an informative ‘ Wet-Series ’ – a set of integrated tools for assisting
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users to achieve well-informed and effective wetland management and rehabilitation .
According to Mr Bonani Madikizela , Research Manager for Water-Linked Ecosystems at the WRC , the Commission has spent over R60 million in wetlandrelated research over the past 15 years . Another WRC publication , ‘ Easy Identification of Wetland Plants ’ ( Report No TT 479 / 10 ) has proved especially popular among practitioners and others who need to document the variety of wetland plants they encounter in the field .
Support system
Additionally , the WRC has developed a handbook and decision support system on wetlands for practitioners , policy makers and stakeholders .
Building on previous work funded by the WRC , the decision-support
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system assists with , among others , the assessment of the supply of ecosystem services by a particular wetland ; exploring how different use-scenarios might affect the suite of ecosystem services supplied by a particular wetland ; assessing the current demand for and use of the services supplied by a wetland , and identifying opportunities and risks to the provision of ecosystem services by a wetland .
An increasing water scarcity challenge shows that our wetlands are under increasing pressure . It has become clear that in future there will be more people wanting more water so that they can survive and prosper . It has often been said that we cannot live without water and we cannot establish our livelihoods without it . If we want our wetlands to continue to perform for us and deliver the benefits that we require then we need to increasingly appreciate
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the relationship that exists between ourselves and wetlands .
It is , however , difficult to appreciate the nature of this relationship if we don ’ t have a full understanding and appreciation gained from the existing collective knowledge .
The Convention on Wetlands , an intergovernmental treaty that was adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar , compels us to restore the dignity our wetlands deserve .
“ A wetland is described as an area of land where the soil is permanently or seasonally saturated with water , which can be salt , fresh or brackish . Swamps , marshes , vlei ’ s and bogs are all examples of wetlands .”
WRC reports on wetlands can be downloaded free of charge from the Knowledge Hub www . wrc . org . za
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