Cape Town – The ecosystems in SA are under threat and unless something is done urgently, the country will face a water crisis, a researcher has found.
“Our ecosystems are in a shocking state,” CSIR researcher Dr Jeanne Nel told News24 at the World Water Day 2011 conference in Cape Town.
Nel’s remarks at the conference were underpinned by the water report by the CSIR and released to the public. It showed that water ecosystems were under threat from a variety of factors, including development and industry.
“Up to 85% of our estuaries are critically endangered and in the past five years we’ve been able to map the zone of an estuary. Our big systems are in trouble,” she said.
Estuaries form the transition ground between river and ocean environments and play a critical role in managing the marine ecosystem, but they are also sensitive to ecological damage from farming or industry.
Source: News 24
