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ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURE
BERG AND BREEDE RIPARIAN
REHABILITATION PROGRAMME
BY GEORGINA VAN BILJON
The Berg and Breede Riparian Rehabilitation he programme has involved more than
30 landowners over the years, and Intaba
Programme established in 2013 is one of the TEnvironmental Services has been one of
largest active riparian rehabilitation projects the main service providers. In the article below,
they share a few practical lessons learnt.
in South Africa. Initiated by the Department of What is ecological infrastructure in
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, riparian ecosystems?
its primary focus is to improve ecological Ecological Infrastructure refers to the goods
and services that the environment provides, for
functioning of the river, job creation (through the example by planting and establishing palmiet
(Prionium serratum) in the wet zone of a river,
EPWP) and buffering the effects of climate change one helps to reduce the speed of the river and
the erosive ability of the water during flooding.
(flooding). Palmiet also helps to filter and clean the water due
to its dense, mesh-like structure of old leaves that
trap sediments (Rebelo et al. 2019).
14 Landscape SA • Issue 113 2022
