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wetlandslatest news & developments
Qualified bird handlers fitting a satellite tracking device to a Curlew Sandpiper. Photo: BirdLife South Africa

Tiny birds, vast journeys: Inside SA’s first shorebird tracking project

BirdLife South Africa launches its first tracking project for migratory shorebirds, revealing complex journeys and new conservation priorities across the Africa–Eurasian flyway

Cumulative strain: The Klip River flows through Soweto, Lenasia and the broader Midvaal area before joining the Vaal River, passing industrial zones, agricultural land, wetlands, protected areas and densely populated settlements. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

Pollution threatens vital waterway

From stormwater and sewage to degraded wetlands, the Klip River’s decline highlights the urgent need for infrastructure repairs and ecological restoration, scientists warn

The theme for the Africa Climate Summit is “driving green growth and climate finance solutions for Africa and the world”. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Gauteng agriculture department fails to meet green job targets – DA

Just 156 green jobs out of a target of 1 120 were created in 2021-022 financial year

Soetendalsvlei plays a critical role in recharging groundwater and supplying freshwater for local agriculture. Photo: Supplied

Critical wetland added to Agulhas National Park

The Soetendalsvlei wetland ecosystem is an important biodiversity area and a haven for birds at southernmost tip of Africa

Protected: The Berg River Estuary on South Africa’s West Coast. (Dewald Kirsten)

Western Cape wetland gets new environmental protection

The Berg River Estuary has been declared South Africa’s 28th Ramsar site, yet 79% of the country’s wetlands remain threatened and 48% are critically endangered

Proposed developments imperil the area’s threatened birds including a colony of Cape vultures, bearded vultures, cranes and secretary birds. (Carina Pienaar)

Safety net thrown over Free State grasslands

The declaration of the Upper Wilge Protected Environment benefits nature, landowners and the broader society

Fossil finds: Lynne Quick and her team extract sediment to analyse pollen grains to assess changes in plant communities to establish vegetation histories. (Photo: Emil Von Maltitz)

More than an allergen, pollen can be used to diagnose climatic changes

Monitoring has focused on health risks, but palynologists are now using it to study climatic changes in various landscapes

Thumbnail: The micro frog, also called the Cape Flats frog, is endemic to a small area in the Western Cape

Endangered ‘Cape Flats’ micro frog finds a ‘sign of healthy ecosystem’

Only four populations of the micro frog, endemic to the wetlands near Bredasdorp, were known before this discovery

Contaminated: Jo’burg residents use the city’s streams, such as the Klipspruit that runs through Soweto and joins the Klip River, for religious and other social functions. (Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Klip River’s ‘holy water’ a danger

A new study says the river’s wetlands have accumulated toxic pollutants from mining for more than a century

Century Property Developments and Riversands Developments have withdrawn a lawsuit against Kristin Kallesen and her non-profit Greater Kyalami Conservancy for the income they have allegedly lost because of objections and appeals raised by her and Gekco against development approvals in and adjoining the conservancy.

Century Property, Riversands Developments sue Joburg environmentalist for R197mn

Century Property Developments and Riversands Developments have ‘no prospect’ of recovering the damages being claimed, say defendants

Carbon allowances exist when a government sets a cap on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be emitted by an industry. Photo: Supplied

Carbon dioxide, methane levels surge despite Covid-19 lockdowns

Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than at any time in past 3.6-million years

South Africa will miss UN’s clean water targets

Mismanagement, pollution and a water deficit exacerbated by climate change are to blame

Video

South Africa’s freshwater fish face extinction

A third of our freshwater fish are dying out due to climate change and invasive species.