The Cape Bird Club

Edith Stephens Wetland Park

This is a working partnership with a number of NGO's and the City of Cape Town.

photograph by Kirsten Louw

Looking west towards Wynberg and Constantia Mountains, over the detention pond and bird hide.

History

The Edith Stephens Wetland Park (ESWP) is a place where the natural biodiversity of the Cape Flats and the needs of the local communities are being brought together. The core of the site is the 3.7ha "Isoetes Vlei", a piece of land bought in 1955 and given to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden to look after by botanist Edith Stephens. Several very rare plant species occur here, and in 1999 the City of Cape Town added a further 35ha of land to form the Wetland Park that exists today.

photograph by Kirsten Louw

The seasonal wetland, seen here in winter, is accessed via boardwalks

Edith Stephens Wetland Park in 2004

Now the site is a focus for conservation, educational and recreational activities, involving an enormous diversity of people. Cape Flats Nature and the Primary Science Programme are based on site, and the Zeekoevlei Environmental Education Programme (ZEEP) runs educational activities with which the Cape Bird Club has been involved over the past year. A bird count also takes place each month, under the aegis of the Avian Demography Unit and their waterbird counting programme (CWAC). Ultimately, the plan is to hand this monthly count over to the local community.

photograph supplied by Kirsten Louw

Kirsten Louw with some visitors at the bird hide.