{"id":176,"date":"2019-08-28T01:07:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T01:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plantagbiosciences.org\/people\/rudzani-khameli\/?p=176"},"modified":"2019-08-30T14:24:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T14:24:50","slug":"department-of-enviromental-affairs-working-for-water-wfw-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plantagbiosciences.org\/people\/rudzani-khameli\/2019\/08\/28\/department-of-enviromental-affairs-working-for-water-wfw-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"Department of Enviromental Affairs: Working For Water (WFW) Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sustainable Development Goal No6 Target 6.6: By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes <\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Invasive\nalien species are plants, animals and microbes that are introduced into\ncountries, and then out-compete the indigenous species. Invasive alien species\nare causing billions of rands of damage to South Africa\u2019s economy every year,\nand are the single biggest threat to the country\u2019s biological biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invasive\nalien plants (IAPs) pose a direct threat not only to South Africa\u2019s biological\ndiversity, but also to water security, the ecological functioning of natural\nsystems and the productive use of land. They intensify the impact of fires and\nfloods and increase soil erosion. IAPs can divert enormous amounts of water\nfrom more productive uses and invasive aquatic plants, such as the water\nhyacinth, effect agriculture, fisheries, transport, recreation and water\nsupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\nthe estimated 9000 plants introduced to this country, 198 are currently\nclassified as being invasive. It is estimated that these plants cover about 10%\nof the country and the problem is growing at an exponential rate. The fight\nagainst invasive alien plants is spearheaded by the Working for Water (WfW)\nprogramme, launched in 1995 and administered previously through the Department\nof Water Affairs and Forestry and now the Department of Environmental Affairs.\nThis programme works in partnership with local communities, to whom it provides\njobs, and also with Government departments including the Departments of\nEnvironmental Affairs and Tourism, Agriculture, and Trade and Industry,\nprovincial departments of agriculture, conservation and environment, research\nfoundations and private companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception in 1995, the\nprogramme has cleared more than one million hectares of invasive alien plants\nproviding jobs and training to approximately 20 000 people from among the most\nmarginalized sectors of society per annum, 52%\nare women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working for Water programme currently\nruns over 300 projects in all nine of South Africa\u2019s provinces. Scientists and\nfield workers use a range of methods to control invasive alien plants. These\ninclude:<\/p>\n\n\n\n