Once upon a time, not that long ago, one of the biggest wetland systems in South Africa was covered in wall-to-wall invasive alien plants.
These wetlands were degraded, and were unable to support the wildlife or the communities that live here optimally.
Enter WWF South Africa, with support from the Overberg District Municipality. In 2018 they decided to support a major restoration project in the Nuwejaars Wetlands, close to Africa’s southernmost tip.
Watch here to see how their support helped to bring the Nuwejaars Wetlands back to life.
Over the next six years, invasive alien clearing was undertaken in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area, led by contractor, Gerty Holtzhauzen and her team. They removed invasive alien plants off nearly 1 000 hectares of wetlands and riparian areas. Much of this was densely infested. Other soil erosion restoration efforts were launched in severely degraded areas. And livestock was fenced out where appropriate, to allow the wetlands to recover.
Six years later, and there is clear evidence of how the wetlands have started working again as they used to.
Fixed point photography and drone aerial imagery have captured the changes in vegetation composition, from mature woodlands to open wetlands. And from here, a staggering recovery of indigenous species has been recorded by external botanists, Rebecca Dames and Sean Privett of the Grootbos Foundation.
Incredible discoveries have been made in the wetlands in that time – thanks to the restored habitat serving as a home for these creatures. The increase in the abundance of frogs and other wetland species is also clear. A dragonfly survey undertaken in January 2021 versus February 2024 by expert Corrie du Toit highlighted the huge increase in numbers of individual dragonflies and damselflies observed.
A return of wetland bird species has also been recorded – with a move away from the woodland birds that used to occur here, to a flurry of ducks, teals, warblers, cisticolas and even harriers, most notably the African Marsh Harrier. These wetland species increased in terms of both abundance and species richness.
The wetlands also became the source for many green livelihoods. During the course of the project, 43 jobs were created. And around 350 children from the local schools in Elim experienced the wetlands as living laboratories, learning about the incredible services they provide to us.
Thank you
The Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area is incredibly grateful to WWF South Africa and the Overberg District Municipality for the years of support. They have played a key role in helping to reignite these wetlands. We look forward to seeing the results over the next three years.
