{"id":1502,"date":"2020-02-12T11:50:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T11:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/2020\/02\/12\/mec-nomandla-bloem-keynote-address-at-the-world-wetlands-day-celebration-in-barkley-west\/"},"modified":"2020-02-12T11:50:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T11:50:18","slug":"mec-nomandla-bloem-keynote-address-at-the-world-wetlands-day-celebration-in-barkley-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/2020\/02\/12\/mec-nomandla-bloem-keynote-address-at-the-world-wetlands-day-celebration-in-barkley-west\/","title":{"rendered":"MEC NOMANDLA BLOEM KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE WORLD WETLANDS DAY CELEBRATION IN BARKLEY WEST"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>11 February 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Acting Head of Departments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Parents <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Senior Managers <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Our Leaners <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ladies and Gentlemen, <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Good morning. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am privileged to address the celebration of the Northern Cape edition of the World Wetlands Day under the theme: <strong>\u201cWetlands and Biodiversity\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Wetlands are home to countless plants and animals that are part of a fragile balance where water and land become one. About 40% of world species live in wetlands. We have various wetlands in Northern Cape including the Kamfersdam in Kimberley (which houses the Lesser Flamingos), The Eye in Kuruman, Hakskeenpan in the Kalahari, Orange River mouth in Alexander Bay and the Verneukpan in Calvinia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Wetlands are amongst the most productive ecosystems in the world because they are a source of life giving waters that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide food to animals, plants and human beings,<\/li>\n<li>Filter water to give us clean water,<\/li>\n<li>Provide a place for animals to breed;<\/li>\n<li>Serve as stop-over sites for migrating birds;<\/li>\n<li>Function as a carbon sink;<\/li>\n<li>Serve as a buffer that stores water during floods and climate disasters; and<\/li>\n<li>Prevent erosion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Furthermore<\/strong>, wetlands have artistic, cultural, recreational, tourism and economical value. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">This has been made evident by the Kamfersdam which is playing host to the Lesser Flamingos and attracting tourists in to the city. Another tourism and economic spin off is that of the British Bloodhound Supersonic car which was hosted at the Hakskeenpan last year, to attempt the 1600 km\/h word speed record. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The fact that only 1% of the world\u2019s water is suitable for human consumption further emphasizes the very importance of wetlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Despite these priceless and irreplaceable value of wetlands, the status of wetlands in the country and our Province remains a worrying factor. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The latest Global Biodiversity Assessment indicates that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The National Biodiversity Assessment also indicates that Wetlands are the most threatened of all South Africa\u2019s ecosystems, with 79% of wetland ecosystems being threatened. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">We are having a big challenge and it is because of human interference and the poor management of our wetlands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">We are destroying our wetlands by our irresponsible actions such as using wetlands as dumping site for our waste, plastic pollution which undermines the flood absorption and water storage capacity of our wetlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">There is a lot of overgrazing, over-abstraction of water, over harvesting of wetland resources, poor agricultural methods and different types of pollution among others. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Action must be taken to stop this killing of our wetlands!!<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/strong> as the Provincial Government we have developed different programmes and projects to mitigate the challenges. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Hence the <strong>Department of Environment and Nature Conservation will host a Waste Summit, from the 12th to 13th of March 2020 in Kimberley- where we are expecting all the role players to work together in finding lasting solutions to the waste problem. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">A Climate Change Summit will also take place on 19 March 2020 in Kimberley to find innovative ways to address the effects of climate change in the Province. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">We need local government, businesses, community members and learners to partner with us to prevent further loss of wetlands and restore those that we lost and still have. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The management and restoration of wetlands must form part of municipalities management plans. Municipalities can also establish environmental awareness campaigns to constantly sensitize the public about the importance and the value of wetlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">We, as the local communities and learners can adopt a wetland in our areas and keep it clean, bearing in mind that a wise use of water and re-use of waste water become more and more important. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The harvesting of rain water can ease the pressure on our water sources, when we stop littering and polluting our wetlands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Learners, Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/strong> let us report people to the municipality that destroy our wetlands. Let us be the example and others will follow. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Let us all invest in the natural infrastructure that wetlands provide. We can determine a positive life on earth and this year\u2019s World Wetlands Day gives us an opportunity to start now. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/strong> urbanisation, changes in land use, agricultural expansion and climate change threaten the future of many species and habitats and ultimately, human existence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">According to an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report released in May 2019, approximately 85% of wetlands worldwide have been lost since the 1970s, and about 25% of species in assessed animal and plant groups are under threat. This suggests that about one million species will face extinction within decades. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Plants used as food are also in decline. The assessment, compiled by 145 experts from 50 countries over the past three years, found that local varieties and domesticated plants were also disappearing fast, with at least <strong>559<\/strong> of the <strong>6 190 varieties<\/strong> used for food production reported extinct in 2016 and <strong>1 000 more<\/strong> now are under threat. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">While the value of crop production has increased almost threefold and raw timber production by 45% since the 1970s, land degradation has seen a 23% reduction in productivity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Despite this, competition for land for conservation and agricultural production is expected to rise as population growth continues to drive higher food demand. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">According to researchers, each plant species plays a role in the ecosystem, so its removal has knock-on effects on other plant and animal species in the system. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"> Biodiversity is also important for the survival of commercial crop species. The pool of tree and plant species should therefore be preserved to ensure a wide selection of genes if existing commercial varieties loose their appeal or productivity as soon as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Preserving biodiversity is done most effectively when farmers work together. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Let us take a look at what landscape-level planning and projects, through partners such as LandCare are doing in our regions, and participate in these efforts to ensure we preserve natural veld. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Another advantage of natural veld is that it usually increases the appeal of a farm, which in turn can open up new avenues for income generation through tourism activities, ranging from farm stays to hiking routes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">If well managed, it is clear that investment in nature can pay off in more than one way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>Ladies and Gentlemen<\/strong>, I am happy that we have seen Kamfersdam\u2019s water levels picking up considerably, thanks to the recent rainfall in Kimberley, making it a true wetland and an attractive nesting site for Lesser Flamingos. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The wetland covers some 400 hectares and has become an attractive home for thousands of Lesser Flamingos. The dam is one of only four breeding sites in Africa. The dam harbours high concentrations of blue-green algae and diatoms which form the main food sources for the flamingos. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The wetland typically supports 20,000 Lesser Flamingos, but occasionally the population can be over 50,000 Lesser Flamingos. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The breeding season of the flamingos at Kamfers dam is around September to March only when the environmental factors are conducive. During the previous site visit on 20 December 2019 it was observed that the water level was declining at a faster rate, and no eggs were observed in nests. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">During the site visit in January 2020, it was observed that the water level has increased as compared to the previous site visit for the same period. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">This can be attributed to the rainfall that the city had experienced in the past weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">The rise in water levels has prompted the flamingos to go back and start building new nests on the western edges of pan. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\"><strong>In conclusion<\/strong>, the Wetlands are highly productive and biologically diverse systems that enhance water quality, control erosion, maintain stream flows, sequestrate carbon, and provide habitats to threatened and endangered species. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Ladies and Gentlemen, our rich legacy of biodiversity comes with a huge responsibility of ensuring that our species and ecosystems are conserved and used sustainably for the benefit of all South Africans. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12.16px;\">Let us preserve our wetlands for the next generation, together we can do it!! I thank you<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>11 February 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northerncape.gov.za\/daerl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}