building synergy between business and community: a novel approach to protecting our rivers

Transcription

1 building synergy between business and community: a novel approach to protecting our rivers

2 How are we treating our Natural Capital?

3 How should we be treating our Natural Capital?

4 Wise Wayz Water Care a brief history Volunteer-based project Established in 2016 Comprise 3 community organisations Funded: AECI Community Education & Development Trust Started with 129 volunteers Project Objective: Develop skills to enable communities to support sustainable livelihoods while maintaining and enhancing the resilience of ecological landscape where they live.

5 Governance Funder AECI Implementer GroundTruth / i4water Executive Committee RCU Emvelowise Qondimvelo 2 committee members per team 5 Committee members per team

6 Wise Wayz Water Care a brief history Founded in 1920s: supply explosives to the mining industry, also producing fertilizers. Diversified into other chemical industries, including foods & water purification

7 Mbokodweni Catchment Durban South

8 WWWC Work areas: Folweni & Ezimbokodweni OFF-TAKE

9 Wise Wayz Water Care Why the partnership? Acacia abstracts water from the Umbogintwini River, purifies it & supplies purified water & steam to tenant companies The cleaner the river water, the lower the cost of purification & treatment Industrial complex employs over 2000 people, many from communities surrounding the complex

10 Natural Capital Protocol

11 Wise Wayz Water Care Project objectives Develop skills to enable communities to support sustainable livelihoods while maintaining and enhancing the resilience of the ecological landscapes where these communities live. Skills development through training Structured according to Focus Activities of the project Mostly SETA accredited & structured to build career paths Environmentally-based skills development to enhance knowledge & understanding and to create opportunities

12 Project Focus Activities

13 Invasive alien plant clearing & solid waste removal All team members take part in clearing alien invasive plants and solid waste from water courses & drainage lines

14 Recycling waste collected from rivers Materials are sorted & cleaned for recycling Most abundant recyclable material is PET (mostly 2 litre plastic bottles) Teams setting up buy-back centres Generate income for teams & community Assist in managing waste

15 Solid waste removal from streams Negative Impacts Positive Impact

16 Aquatic Assessment & Monitoring River Walks monitor water quality & quantity and identify & monitor pollution sources Use of Citizen Science tools to collect valuable, reliable data Better understanding of river water quality Able fieldwork assistants

17 Community Engagement (Education) Engage with community members around social challenges and environmental impacts (Knock-Knock for Knowledge) Identify challenges & find solutions together Addressing the issues at grass roots to grow environmentally conscious communities Reconnect with the natural environment

18 Community Engagement (Infrastructure Monitoring) Monitoring and reporting spilling manholes to municipality Conducting water audits - reporting burst pipes and leaking taps Advise community members on how to fix a leaking tap and how to do a water audit Raw sewage flowing directly into a stream

19 Food security Food gardens to support the group members & the poorest families in the community 2017: Expand garden programme to include commercial agriculture

20 Health and Safety River Safety, First Aid and ASHEPP

21 Rehabilitation & Resilience: A case study Drainage channel & wetland infested with invasive alien plants and solid waste Degraded wetland Increased runoff Drainage channel heavily infested with IAPs

22 Rehabilitation & Resilience: A case study Drainage channel invasive alien plants & solid waste Cleared Drainage Channel

23 Rehabilitation & Resilience: A case study Degraded wetland Wetland recovering after removal of IAPs and solid waste Increased biodiversity

24 Community Engagement: A case study Burst municipal pipe leaking treated water for 3 years Water audit: how much water lost

25 Community Engagement: A case study

26 Natural Capital Protocol

27 Would you like to collaborate? Contact us: Kirsten Mahood or Ntswaki Ditlhale Tel: / Ntswaki@groundtruth.co.za / Ntswaki@i4water.org