A Directory of South African Wetlands

A Directory of
South African Wetlands
GI Cowan & W van Riet.
1998
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Pretoria
ISBN 0-621-28756-3

Introduction
The importance of wetlands, their functions, attributes and values cannot be underestimated. This is particularly so in a dry country such as South Africa, and was recognized 25 years ago, when South Africa took part in the conference held in the town of Ramsar, at which the Convention on Wetlands of Intemational Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (the Ramsar Convention) was formally established. This recognition was formalized in 1975 when South Africa signed the Convention without reservation as to ratification, thus becoming the fifth Contracting Party to the Convention.
In signing the Convention, Contracting Parties agree to its objectives which are to:

Stem the loss of wetlands;
Promote wise use of all wetlands;
Promote special protection of listed wetlands;
Promote the training of personnel; and
Promote the implementation of parties' obligations in terms of the Convention.
The Convention thus promotes the conservation of all wetlands. This is further emphasized in Article 3.1 of the Convention which obligies Contracting Parties to include the conservation of wetlands in their landuse planning. Wetland inventories form a base from which wetland conservation strategies can be developed. Contracting Parties to the Convention have been encouraged to implement such inventories at Conferences of Parties (Recommendations 1.5 (Cagliari, Italy, 1980), 2.3 (Groningen, Netherlands, 1984), 3.1, (Regina, Canada, 1987), 4.10 (Montreux, Switzerland, 1990)).
The need for a wetland inventory in South Africa has long been recognized. In 1988 a workshop on the inventory and classification of wetlands in South Africa was held. At the same time initiatives in the Westem Cape and in Kwazulu-Natal towards inventories were taking place. Earlier, an assessment of the conservation status of river systems in the country was published. The need for such an inventory continues to be expressed.
Large scale wetland inventories have been published for Africa and for southern Africa, while the most complete review of South African wetlands remains Noble and Hemens (1978). More recent summaries of these reviews for South Africa are found in Allanson et al (1 990) and Breen et al (1993). Extended reviews of current knowledge of a number of wetland types in South Africa are found in Schwabe (1995) - alpine mires, Rogers (1995) - riparian wetlands, Steinke (1 995) - mangroves, Allan et al (1 995) - endorheic pans, Hart (1 995) -coastal lakes and Schleyer (1995) - coral reef communities. In addition to these reviews, a number of overiews have been published on estuaries in South Africa (Day 1981, Begg 1978, Begg 1984, Heydorn and Tinley 1980, Heydorn and Grindley 1981-1985).
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, being responsibile at the national level for the implementation of the Convention, initiated the South African Wetlands Conservation Programme in 1990. The programme is aimed at ensuring South Africa meets its obligations in terms of both the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity by building on past efforts to protect wetlands in South Africa against degradation and destruction, whilst aiming at the ideal of wise and sustainable use of its resources.
The objective of the programme is to ensure the conservation of South Africa's wetlands in such a way that the ecological and socioeconomic functions of wetlands are sustained now and in the future. In order to meet this objective, an inventory of wetlands in the country is essential and forms a major thrust of the programme. The inventory is aimed at coverage, expendability, computerabilty GIS.
The development of this directory follows similar initiatives from Australia, Asia, Brazil, and New Zealand. It should be emphasized that this is an initial directory, of the most well known wetlands in South Africa and by no means does it claim to be complete.

If you have any comments on this page, or need more information, please contact John Dini at nat_jd@ozone.pwv.gov.za.

This page is maintained by the South African Wetlands Conservation Programme and was last updated on 12 January 1999.

	If you have any comments on this page, or need more information, please contact John Dini at nat_jd@ozone.pwv.gov.za.
	This page is maintained by the South African Wetlands Conservation Programme and was last updated on 12 January 1999.