Intrinsic value of Wetlands just a click away enhances learning for students.
Marking World Wetlands Day, the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) has launched an interactive map aimed at learners and students showcasing the value of the Papenkuils wetland located along the Breede River.
Considered to be a biodiversity hotspot, the map was created on ArcGIS technology and provides information on the goods and services that wetlands provide, and how it is home to a variety of terrestrial and aquatic plant and animal species - some of which are red listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Wilna Kloppers, Director for Pollution and Chemicals Management at DEA&DP said: “As a Department, we are deeply concerned about the state and loss of our wetlands. Using this storymap we are able to take learners on a journey to show them how a wetland should function but also how human pressures, such as agriculture and farming, and alien vegetation growth negatively impact how these wetlands function.”
Due to its unique natural characteristics’, wetlands provide services or functions, also known as Ecosystem Services, in the form of:
- protecting and improving water quality,
- providing fish and wildlife habitats,
- storing floodwaters,
- maintaining surface water flow during dry periods and
- recreational activities like bird watching
Anton Bredell, the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape said: “The Western Cape has already lost almost 50% of its wetland areas – it is imperative that we take a whole of society approach to restore and protect these areas. This story map aims to help create understating how human impacts have reduced the ecosystem services of this wetland while helping to create awareness about the value of our wetlands.
Visit the storymap here: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=f982f12d7aeb45379a46ff0bedd45cac
Learn more and follow the World Wetlands Day campaign using #ActForWetlands or #WorldWetlandsDay”.
ENDS