Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of flora and fauna life. In addition to the above, wetlands provide essential goods and services to humanity by providing opportunities for grazing, fishing, hunting and sources of building material.

Wetlands and riparian areas are highly valuable natural systems that perform a variety of ecosystem services, both directly and indirectly related to human well-being. The National Environmental Management Act and several other pieces of legislation recognise the critical need to protect, rehabilitate and conserve wetlands as a history of uninformed and poorly planned infrastructural developments in the vicinity of wetlands has significantly impacted on these important ecological resources in our country.

Where proposed developments have the potential to impact on wetland / riparian areas various assessments and tools are required pre-development to gain an understanding of the natural environment and guide the developmental process. In this regard AFZELIA has the necessary expertise to undertake the following wetland / riparian assessments and studies to appropriately guide the development process:

Wetland and Riparian Services Offered

1. Wetland and riparian screening surveys
2. Wetland delineations – as per the procedures described in ‘A practical Field Procedure for Identification and Delineation of Wetland and Riparian Areas – Edition 1’ (Department of Water Affairs, 2005)
1. Assessment of the present state of wetlands
2. Evaluation of impacts on wetlands due to development
3. Identification of site specific mitigation measure to limit impacts on wetlands
4. Assessing the goods and services offered by wetland systems
5. Developing wetland and riparian rehabilitation plans
6. Managing the rehabilitation of wetland and riparian areas
7. Defining buffer zones for wetlands and biodiversity protection
8. Developing alien vegetation management programmes for wetland and riparian areas
9. Managing alien vegetation clearing within wetlands and riparian areas.
3. Wetland Functional Assessments – utilising the WET-EcoServices or WetHealth tools
4. Wetland and riparian rehabilitation and implementation plans

Selected wetland delineation, functionality and rehabilitation projects: