Have you noticed the vibrant colours in our canals this spring?

This discouloration is due to the presence of an aquatic plant called the red water fern (Azolla filiculoides). A floating tiny-leafed aquatic plant which forms dense mats on the water surface, often turning from green to red as a result of changes in sunlight intensity (and shade) as well as ambient temperature, such as those we experience in Cape Town late Spring to early Summer. Azolla is one of many other aquatic plants occurring in the Century City waterbodies, such as Hortwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) and Pondweed (Pontomogeton pectinatus).

Aquatic plants are a natural phenomenon in waterbodies in the Western Cape and a sign of a healthy ecosystem. They serve an important ecological purpose and do not pose any threat to human health. Some of the aquatic plants have even been purposefully introduced into the system. Aquatic vegetation aid in taking up excess nutrients from the water and acts as feeding and breeding grounds to fish populations, which in turn acts as food source for our important bird life of Intaka Island, Ratanga Park and the broader Century City precinct.

It is therefore essential for us to preserve some vegetation in the system. Aquatic plant growth rate also increases over the summer season and peaks in mid-summer, so do expect more aquatics in the system as we head into the warmer months.

We are privileged to live and work in a precinct which is rich with all sorts of wildlife and the CCPOA aim to maintain a healthy, green precinct that provides balanced ecosystem services and a healthy environment for both our humans and animal residents.