News

SANParks and the Knysna Municipality have approached Mark Williams of Watermark Marine to develop a cargo net for the Knysna estuary’s channels. The cargo net is set to catch pollution as it comes into the Knysna estuary and true to its name, trap all solid waste in the net.

The first test started last week when it was placed in a channel leading to the Ashmead channel. If it withstands today’s expected 40mm of rain, it would have passed the pilot phase and ready to be rolled out to 5 more channels from the town’s CBD.

Knysna Municipality’s Shaun Maree, Mark Williams, Randell Bouwers and SANParks’ Scott Ronaldson have been directly involved with Williams to test this ingenious find. So says Megan Taplin, Area Manager for Knysna, ‘the net will supplement efforts by various teams from SANParks and the Knysna Municipality to protect South Africa’s number 1 estuary in terms of biodiversity significance.’

There are currently dedicated teams of people (22 people altogether) who work from Monday to Friday, cleaning up litter around the estuary as well as the five main culverts draining from the CBD areas to the estuary. About 130 people were employed in the last contract which ended in July 2017. This figure will increase in the new Financial Year starting in April 2019 where 190 people will be employed by Working for the Coast and this will be for the Source to sea project which will be managed by SANParks.

There are twelve (12) designated hotspots cleaned including culverts around local areas around the estuary including the Knysna Angling Club, the Station, Thesen, Queen Street and Fruit and Veg. This means they clean from the watershed, all the way down to the estuary. Once litter is collected, it is then sorted and recyclable material handed over to the recycling centre in Knysna.

SANParks Honorary Rangers also organize weekly litter clean-ups of the estuary with volunteers. Any concerned citizen is welcome to join these regular clean-up efforts and be privy to records of litter collected daily.

More about the Knysna estuary: Of the 249 national estuaries forming part of a study conducted by independent researchers Jane Turpie and Barry Clarke (2007), the Knysna estuary was ranked above the St Lucia World Heritage Site in terms of biodiversity significance. This was determined by the number of its fish species, birds and botanical data. The estuary, also in the Garden Route National Park is home to 43% of South Africa’s plant and animal life and supports rare fish species such as the grunter, white Steenbras, Dusky Cob and Cape Stumpnose. Knysna’s jewel, the estuary, alone contributes some 21, 6% of the total economic value of the 249 national estuaries.

Scott Ronaldson, SANParks

Media contact: Nandi Mgwadlamba, 078 702 9663, [email protected]