Floating Wetlands
African Birdlife|March/April 2018

Small steps can make a big difference

Floating Wetlands

The term ‘floating wetlands’ may conjure up an image of large expanses of dense papyrus reeds with perhaps a Shoebill lurking within. The floating wetlands I’m talking about, however, are different, somewhat smaller and popping up on farm dams in the Western Cape.

In 2015 BirdLife South Africa and NCC Environmental Services, with funding from the Table Mountain Fund, initiated a pilot project to develop mechanisms for improving waterbird habitat on farm dams. After spending a lot of time traversing the back roads of the region we noticed that these dams often appeared sterile, providing very little refuge for birds. Would it be possible, we wondered, to turn these isolated artificial waterbodies into havens of biodiversity?

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Denne historien er fra March/April 2018-utgaven av African Birdlife.

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