Wetland Education & Skills Development
In the Education and Skills Development category, the award is given annually to those who have made a significant contribution towards wetland education and skills development in South Africa. This may be through institutional and professional capacity building, training, collaboration, stakeholder engagement or educational tools, outreach and awareness.
2-Star Water Rating
The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Department’s Water Star Rating Certification system promotes best practices in water management, conservation and pollution control in the business sector; government departments; education and health institutions; and residential estates. The certification underscores the continuation of the strong partnerships that were forged between the City and the private sector to Cape Town get through the recent severe and rare drought. These partnerships are ongoing as the drought recovery period continues. It ensures the wise use of water in the long term in a water-scarce region.
The Intaka Island water management systems include rainwater harvesting and the harvesting of greywater from hand basins for toilet flushing. During the dry summer The City of Cape Town’s Water Star Rating Certification 19 November 2019 Page 6 of 18 months, this supply is topped up with treated effluent water from the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment plant. The above systems are clearly displayed as working exhibits in the Eco-Centre and form part of the environmental education programmes that are on offer. We received more around 9 000 learners from 190 school groups and on average 35 000 visitors to the Eco Centre each year. The formal recognition further adds credibility to our existing environmental education programs.
Voluntary Conservation Site
Goal 2 of the Intaka Island Environmental Management Plan (EMP) aims to ensure formal conservation status for the 16-hectare nature area (Intaka Island) and to investigate other potential designations.
The approval of the General Site Development Plan by Provincial Administration in 1996 specified that an area of not less than 16 hectares be used to accommodate the multi-purpose wetlands, as envisaged in the Blouvlei Environmental Impact Assessment (CSIR, 1996). This 16-ha area is currently zoned as “Special (Private Open Space)” in the Subdivision Plan (Planning Partnership, 1997) and excludes the canals around the edge of the wetlands.
The combination of bird and botanical diversity (in particular, the Sand Plain Fynbos and the Seasonal Pan plant communities) gives this area a high conservation value. The vegetation re-establishment programme has thus far resulted in more than 219 locally indigenous species being established within the 16-ha nature area, making this one of the most extensive fynbos revegetation schemes in South Africa.
Due to the high conservation and educational value of the wetlands, the Blouvlei / Intaka Island Environmental Committee, investigated formal conservation status for Intaka Island. This led to the 16-ha nature area being declared a “Voluntary Conservation Site” by CapeNature in 2006. The certificate from Cape Nature was handed over to Chris Blackshaw, CEO of the CCPOA on 12 December 2006.