Unisa SBL’s wetland rehab project nears completion

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is currently undertaking a multi-stakeholder project that aims to rehabilitate a wetland located on the university’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) campus in Midrand.

The project was launched in 2019 and is now in its final stages. The wetland rehabilitation project is addressing several challenges such as excessive flooding in the parking area, erosion, habitat destruction, invasion of alien species, and damaged stream banks.

The project team plans to complete the rehabilitation work by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Wetlands are essential for a variety of reasons, including slowing down floodwaters, minimising erosion, providing habitats for different species, improving water quality, and maintaining the base flows of rivers.

This project is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, which promotes sustainable cities and communities.

Wetlands are environmentally sensitive bodies of land that are protected in South Africa under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 and the National Water Act 36 of 1998.

To ensure compliance with this legislation and other bylaws, environmental authorisation was sought, and specialist studies were commissioned.

These studies included documenting the indigenous fauna and flora and providing guidance on the remedial actions required to restore the wetland.

The university’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) carried out the study, which allowed various sectors in Unisa to take co-ownership of the project.

The CAES, the sustainability office, and the facilities management department worked together to ensure the protection and rehabilitation of the section of the wetland on the campus.

The SBL campus covers only part of the wetland, and the rest has been nearly completely destroyed by road and other construction.

The project seeks to restore the original state of the wetland located on the campus, protect the slope from further degradation, manage peak flow, and upgrade the stormwater system to mitigate adverse site conditions.

This project is the first of its kind for Unisa, and similar initiatives are envisaged for other sites such as the university’s Daveyton campus in Ekurhuleni, which is also situated on a wetland.

The university’s Sustainability Framework 2021-2023 provides a roadmap for sustainability that is focused on the university’s continuous efforts to ensure its commitment to a sustainable future.

These initiatives are happening at a time when the Global Reporting Initiative, an independent sustainability reporting body, is launching a Biodiversity Standard.

This standard will require organisations to report or disclose their impact on biodiversity from 2025.

Unisa is, therefore, not only on the right path in ensuring that it identifies and minimises its environmental impact but also provides remedial action to address oversights of the past.

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