Heritage Cases

Working for Wetlands (WfWetlands) is a government programme managed by the Natural Resource Management Programmes (NRMP) of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), and is a joint initiative with the Departments of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). In this way the programme is an expression of the overlapping wetland-related mandates of the three parent departments, and besides giving effect to a range of policy objectives, it also honours South Africa's commitments under several international agreements, especially the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The programme is mandated to protect pristine wetlands, promote their wise-use and rehabilitate those that are damaged throughout South Africa, with an emphasis on complying with the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and only using local Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The EPWP seeks to draw significant numbers of unemployed people into the productive sector of the economy, gaining skills while they work and increasing their ability to earn an income. Aurecon South Africa (Pty) Ltd (Aurecon) has been appointed to undertake the project activities and associated reporting required by the WfWetlands Programme. The Aurecon team comprises Design Engineers and Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAPs) who undertake the planning, design and authorisation components of the project. The Aurecon Team is assisted by an external team of Wetland Specialists who provide scientific insight into the operation of wetlands and bring expert and often local knowledge of the wetlands. The project team is also complimented by the DEA Assistant Director for Wetland Programmes (ASD), formally known as Provincial Coordinators) who are each responsible for provincial planning and implementation. The provincial level Basic Assessment Reports (BARs) provide the findings of the associated investigations and are available for public comment. The BARs describe the wetland systems that were identified as priorities for this planning cycle, together with the baseline information on the quaternary catchment. Please note that a BA process is being undertaken for only three provinces, i.e. KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Western Cape and has not been undertaken for the Eastern Cape as the project involves activities that fall within the exclusion criteria of the Listed Activities. For every province, a condition of the EAs will be that annual Rehabilitation Plans be submitted to DEA for approval after sufficient annual field work has been undertaken for each of the authorised Wetland Projects. These Rehabilitation Plans include specialist reports prepared by the Wetland Specialists (which provide a site description, detailed baseline information, and the wetland context within the greater catchment). The Rehabilitation Plans also include the proposed interventions, interventions, objectives, design details and specifications, and proposed locations.