Gumboot April 2011

Working for Wetland's electronic newsletter

GDARD’S WETLAND REHABILITATION WORK RECOGNIZED AT KAMOSO AWARDS

GDARD’S WETLAND REHABILITATION WORK RECOGNIZED AT KAMOSO AWARDS
The 2010 Kamoso Awards ceremony, which was held on the 7th March 2011 at the Silverstar Casino, represented a significant milestone for the EPWP as it celebrated the creation of over 2 million work opportunities since its inception in 2004. Ten thousand of these job opportunities were created by Working for Wetlands.

GDARD’S WETLAND REHABILITATION WORK RECOGNIZED AT KAMOSO AWARDS

THE PROJECTS
The Esselen Park wetland in Gauteng, the Tswaing wetland in Tshwane and the Magalies River wetland in the Mogale city have one thing in common: they form part of a large catchment/wetland/river system that was severely degraded due to alterations from land use activities and residential developments. This resulted in decreased ecological functionality of these urban wetland systems. Rehabilitating one wetland and not the others would not have solved the erosion related problems within these systems. There was an urgent need for the installation of water velocity reduction control mechanisms, including the arresting of erosion using geo cells, earthworks, sloping and revegetation and the promotion of the re-colonisation of the rehabilitated areas by indigenous aquatic fauna and flora.
There were other serious constraints and challenges that had to be dealt with. It was vital that alien vegetation on site was removed. Weather conditions such as the extreme unpredictability of rainfall patterns on the highveld made impact on the progress of work.

VITAL STATISTICS

VITAL STATISTICS
From 2008 the Esselen wetland rehabilitation project alone has achieved the following:

Number of gabions	3
Total volume	67 m3
Number of concrete structures	3
Total Volume	146 m3
Total Volume of rewetting and wetland earthworks	2369 m3
Volume of re vegetation	3220 m2
Person days	384

2nd Regional Conference of the Southern African YOUNG WATER PROFESSIONALS

SNIPPETS
2nd Regional Conference of the Southern African YOUNG WATER PROFESSIONALS
It is that time of the year again where we announce the next South African Young Water Professionals Regional Conference organized by International Water Association (IWA) and Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) and it is CPD accredited. This year’s conference will take place in July and registrations are now open. So if you are 35 years old or younger, you obtained your qualifications less than five years ago or are a post-graduate student do not delay, register now. More than 300 Young Water Professionals attended the first Southern African YWP Conference in January 2010.
Date: 3rd – 5th July 2011
Venue: CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria
Early Bird registration fees apply until 15 May 2011, after which Late Fees will apply. Members of IWA or WISA are entitled to discounted fees - please provide your membership number where indicated on the registration form, as numbers will be verified in order for the member rates to be used. If your membership number cannot be verified, non-member fees will be applied.
Registration Fee
Payment of the registration fee is strictly in advance, absolutely NO exemptions will be made (Government and municipal delegates included).

Early Bird Fee Late Fee
Delegate before 15/05/2011 after 15/05/2011
IWA or IWISA member R1000 incl. VAT R1250 incl. VAT
Non-member R1250 inc. VAT R1500 incl. VAT

For more information please go to: http://www.wisa.org.za/ywp/ywpc2011/YWPC2011Final_Announcement.pdf .
To register online go to: http://www.wisa.org.za/ywp/ywpc2011/ywpcreg2011.asp after reading through the FINAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:.
To download a form go to: http://www.wisa.org.za/ywp/ywpc2011/ywpcreg2011.htm .
For further information you can email the Conference Secretariat on: confplan@iafrica.com .
Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities are still available – please visit: http://www.wisa.org.za/ywp/ywpc2011/ywpcexhibit2011.htm for details.

Wetlands Portal Reminder and Forum Meetings

Wetlands Portal Reminder and Forum Meetings
Please do not forget to visit the wetlands portal website at: http://www.wetlands.za.net/ for interesting discussions, forum meetings in your province and other useful information on wetlands in the country.