Mpumalanga celebrates twin treasures of nature

She was speaking at the celebration of Wetlands and Grasslands Day at the Delmas Environmental Centre. She described Wetlands and Grasslands as the Provincial twin treasures of nature.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 2 February. This year marks the 43 years of celebrating the Wetlands globally since the Convention of Wetlands Ramsar in 1971, under the theme Wetlands and Agriculture-partners for growth.

On Friday, 04 November 2013, MEC ‘Pinky’ Phosa, declared a Provincial Grassland Week to be held annually during the last week of February. Mpumalanga is the first Province in the country to declare a Grassland Week.

The event was the first of its kind as a combined celebration of Grasslands and Wetlands. The purpose of the celebration was to create awareness about the linkages between Wetlands and Grasslands and to demonstrate the importance of managing ecosystems in their totality.  Protecting their ecological character, as well as the freshwater resources and related ecological services are vital to human activity on Earth.

The MEC encouraged the community of Victor Khanye Local Municipality to protect the grasslands and wetlands, adding that working together will ensure environmental sustainability and development of the area.

Ms Anthea Stephens, Director: Grassland Programme at SANBI also applauded a good partnership with dedet, MTPA, and other stakeholders. She encouraged continuation of partnerships in order to create awareness on the importance of the environment.

What is a Wetland? wetland can be described as an area with poor drainage, where the soil is permanently, seasonally or temporary saturated with water. The plants and wildlife are specially adapted to living in such conditions. Other names for Wetlands include names such as marshes, swamps.

What is a Grassland? The term ‘grassland’ creates the impression that the Grasslands biome consists only of grass species. In fact, it is a complex ecosystem, including rivers and wetlands, species and habitats. In healthy Grasslands, only one in six plants is a grass, while the others are forbs (bulbs, aloes, watsonias, gladioli, ground orchids and herb-like wild flowers).