Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Swartkops Estuary

Even though it has an urban setting, the Swartkops Estuary with its adjacent salt pans, is one of the most important wetlands areas in South Africa.  It is seen as an Important Bird Area playing host to over 10 000 water birds in summer and is one of the best places in the country to see the less common estuarine waders and terns.  All in all its one of the premier birding venues in Port Elizabeth with about 200 species found there regularly.  Big parts of the estuary and surroundings, specifically the dense coastal thicket vegetation on the northern escarpment, are protected by the Zwartkops and Aloe Nature Reserves.  Unfortunately the estuary are constantly under threat, specifically from pollution carried in storm-water drains, mismanaged sewerage and industrial waste but at the forefront of the battle against this are the groups such as the Zwartkops Trust.

1 comment:

  1. OMW What a beautiful part of PE that is. We certainly need to connect when we're out in SA again. We didn't go through PE in September but will be doing that route next time around. I would love to spend a day at those wetlands. Sounds wonderful.Thanks for your regular comments on my blog even when I didn't back to you on yours. But here I am, back in Tanzania and back into blogging. Greetings, Jo

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