by Afika Ndlela

On the 22nd of March 2022 learners and teachers from Bardale High School’s environmental club in Mfuleni, Cape Town, South Africa joined in the global day of environmental education and celebration of World Water Day – Making the Invisible visible by cleaning up the wetland opposite the school.

What is a wetland and what makes wetlands important?

Wetlands help store water and reduce flood damage by acting as a giant sponges. Wetlands filter water so that water leaving the wetland is cleaner than water entering it. A wetland can be described as a place in which the land is covered by water; salt, fresh, or somewhere in between - either seasonally or permanently. It functions as its own distinct ecosystem with quite distinctive vegetation which has adapted to wet soil. Wetlands are habitats for several species of wildlife, from aquatic animals to migratory birds, which lie in various ecosystems. The biggest threat to wetlands is that they are often seen as wastelands/dumping sites. Hence in most areas wetlands are drained and used for industrial sites and sewage treatment plants. The learners identified the importance of the wetland in the community and wanted to highlight its importance by cleaning it and helping restore the wetlands so that it serves their natural purpose.

This community action is a part of a broader project along the Kuils River Catchment aiming to build Integrated Environment Community Projects (ICEP) that reimagines our relationships with each other and our environments. The wetlands are an important link to the health of the river and provide a number of ecosystem services to the community. Traditional healers harvest medicinal plants and spiritual connections, livestock and vegetable farmers are dependent on the area for water and grazing and the wetlands form a general buffer from floods and therapeutic space for mental health.

This clean-up was organised in collaboration with the Environmental Monitoring Group and the Western Cape branch of the National Department of Water and Sanitation – who provided Personal Protection Equipment including rubber boots, safety vests, pickers and a gift for the learners - a reusable shopping bag. The City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste unit provided 100 waste disposal bags and collected the waste shortly after the clean-up was finished.

The clean-up was also joined by the local government ward committee representatives for Mfuleni, the ward councillor, a public relations person, and the environmental representative in the local council, a local journalist. The clean-up was covered by the online news media service GroundUp – “Activists and learners clean up Mfuleni wetland”

The wetland within Mfuleni is part of the Kuils River Catchment area and is being poisoned by pollution due to the dumping and burning of waste, resulting in water and air pollution affecting the residents of the community and the broader environment including False Bay. The learners also wanted to explore ways to help their community reduce their vulnerability to climate change. After the clean-up, the EMG team, teachers and learners gathered to share learnings, insights, and reflections about the activity.

During the reflection the learners expressed deep gratitude towards EMG, DWS and COCT for assisting them in their initiative but also highlighted how the clean-up was the start of greater things. The learners acknowledged that they themselves cannot clean up the wetland alone, the relevant stakeholders need to get together and work towards getting it cleaned.

The learners shared some great ideas of what they hope to see happen with the wetland, “we can clean the wetland, have it drained out and we can have our school science lab there since our school doesn’t have one”.
Another learner mentioned “We can clean the wetland and try restore it so that bird life and other water species can return and this could bring a different quality of life to our area and it could be a small nature park.”

We can report that the students see themselves as being part of the solution, which indicates the level of responsibility these learners feel for their communities and environment.