Profiling South Africa - the Msunduzi River

General description

The Msunduzi River runs through the Midlands of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZM) province in Eastern South Africa until it joins the Mngeni River which flows out into the Indian Ocean at Durban. From its source to the confluence with the Mngeni the river runs through the most urbanized valley of the KZN Midlands, including a stretch right through the provincial capital city of Pietermaritzburg. Despite urban encroachment and pollution the Msunduzi retains a range of habitats including grassland, woodlands, wetland and riparian areas.

Importance for conservation

The South African National Biodiversity Institute’s riverine biodiversity assessment of 2005 classifies 44% of small rivers in South Africa as critically endangered habitats. In this sense the Msunduzi is a “flagship” river, still supporting a broad biodiversity of both fauna and flora along its banks. Even the inner city stretches of the river are still frequented by egrets, ducks, Hammerkops, Giant Kingfishers, and surprisingly the African Fish Eagle.

Conservation concern

Increasing urban encroachment around the Msunduzi is destroying habitats and threatening existing ecosystems and species. Urbanisation has brought with it industrial waste, refuse dumping, and urban run-off. A century-old sewerage infrastructure and little or no sanitation in large informal settlements within the catchment means that E. coli pollution is a serious threat to the water quality and the river and riparian environments. The loss of native biodiversity due to the introduction of invasive alien plants that out-compete the indigenous species is also a key issue for the study area.

Achievements to date

In 2004 Medi-Clinic funded and supervised the removal of all invasive tree species from a one kilometre section of the river. Following this work A Rocha raised funds from local residents, businesses, local schools and community organisations to employ Nkosinathi Chonco to carry on restoration and conservation work on the banks. In May 2005 the first phase of this rehabilitation process got under way with litter pickups, the clearance of large areas of invasive plants and a planting regime to re-introduce native plant species. This process is the first step in restoring the study area back to being a characteristic Midland stream ecosystem.

Vision for the future

A Rocha intends to continue the rehabilitation work with a growing network of local partners to restore the riparian environment to its natural state. Through the local jobs created in the project A Rocha envisages dovetailing the need for conservation with the need to create employment in a high unemployment area. The eventual conservation goal is to create a four kilometre long conservancy and heritage walk in community-policed parkland along the Msunduzi’s Kershaw Park and Scottsville waterways. A Rocha also hopes to create a conservancy of significance for research by university students, school environmental education, and recreation. A monitoring program following the ecological succession of wildlife in the area shall be set up to gain a better understanding of the riparian habitat.