WWF South Africa has launched a biodiversity stewardship project aimed at securing the water that ultimately flows into the Vaal River system and to South Africa’s economic powerhouse in Gauteng and Inkomati Usuthu systems that goes to Swaziland and Mozambique.

The Enkangala Drakensberg Water Source Area biodiversity stewardship project which has been underway since the beginning of this year, officially launched on 18 October at a community event in Donkerhoek, near the Heyshope Dam in southern Mpumalanga. This project is funded in collaboration with The Coca-Cola Foundation, which has a long history of partnering with WWF to restore water to nature in South Africa’s key source water areas.

The Enkangala project will focus on the head waters of the Usuthu River which supplies the Vaal system through an inter-basin transfer. Implementing partners include the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, the Department of Agriculture Rural Development Land & Environmental Affairs along with eight Communal Property Associations (CPAs) located in the Gert Sibande District Municipality.

Among its key areas of work will be to control invasive alien plants, encourage regenerative rangeland farming practices and promote ecologically sensitive fire management. Among the communities to be involved are Bambanani and Ukuthanda Ukukhanya CPAs where 80 members will receive training in the first year.

The ultimate goal is to secure a total of 15 500 hectares of biodiversity stewardship sites in the area. This will expand South Africa’s protected area network in this critically important strategic water source area, with the potential to directly benefit some 24 000 people downstream.

This project forms part of the bigger WWF Land Reform and Biodiversity Stewardship work to empower local communities to protect the biological integrity of water-producing landscapes, such as the Enkangala Drakensberg Water Source Area, through voluntary stewardship agreements.

Dr Morne Du Plessis, CEO, WWF South Africa, said: “This work is a continuation of the vision that was realized over 15 years ago for the Mpumalanga grassland region and will continue to be a key focus of intervention in the foreseeable future. We thank our partner, The Coca-Cola Foundation, for their commitment to our shared vision of helping communities become self-sufficient and effective custodians of their land.”

Saadia Madsbjerg, Vice-President of Global Community Affairs for The Coca-Cola Company and President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, added: “We are proud to support partners like WWF on cost-effective solutions that improve water security in South Africa and that economically empower vulnerable communities.”