Klip River wetlands under threat

• News & Highlights

In the Klip River Valley, between Lenasia and Eikenhof in the south of Johannesburg, lies a number of green belt areas. While it may look like a regular field from the road, the tall green reeds which can be seen there are a sign of a complex ecosystem, vital to public health.

The Klip River wetlands stretch 25km from Soweto to southern Gauteng and when functioning, clean some of Johannesburg’s drinking water for free. Water from the Klip flows into the Vaal River, making it one of the province's most valuable natural assets.

The wetland operates like a filtration system, trapping water through the system slowly for purification. “Wetlands get water from different catchments and could contain water contaminated by mining or agricultural activities. All those things collect in the catchment during the rainy season,” said Tebogo Nkadimeng, a scientist with the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“A natural functioning wetland will trap all those impacts and at the end of the day release water that is cleaner than when it entered the system,” he said.

According to a 2011 South African National Biodiversity Institute report, wetlands currently make up 2.4 percent of the country’s surface area, but up to 65 percent of these are at risk of destruction.