Cape Town

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Edith Stevens Wetland Park

More Photos
MiriamMannak
MiriamMannak
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
3
Photos
Editor Pick

Edith Stevens Wetland Park

  • February 16, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by MiriamMannak from Cape Town, South Africa
Edith Stevens Wetland Park

One of the first stops of my 48-hour township tour was the Edith Stevens Wetland Park, a true oasis in the middle of the Cape Flats. This is the geographical location north of Cape Town, where before and during apartheid most black and coloured townships were built.



The Edith Stevens Wetland Park is surrounded by several townships, and boasts more than 80 species of plants, several reptile species including the endangered leopard toad, birds, and small mammals such as the clawless otter.



Apart from serving a leisure purpose, the Edith Stevens Wetland Park plays a key role in environmental education in the townships, social development, and job creation. Inhabitants from the townships are, for instance, trained in the clearance of alien and invasive vegetation in, and around, Cape Town, such as eucalyptus and pine trees.



These trees, and other plants, need to go because they are a threat to the indigenous vegetation as fynbos. For one thing, they make the soil acidic. Fynbos does not like that, and is therefore jeopardized by the many pine and eucalyptus trees in the area, once planted for timber. Second, Eucalyptus and Pine need a lot of water. I don’t need to explain that this is destructive for such a dry area as Cape Town.



In other words, the ESWP is much more than a piece of nature.



Directions:

Edith Stevens Wetland Park

Lansdowne Road, Phillipi

+ 27 (0) 21 691 8087

www.capeflatsnature.org

From journal 48 Hours in the Townships - Langa & Gugulethu

Compare Cape Town Rates

1. Enter travel information

City

2. Select websites to compare rates

Each selected website will open a new window.

Cape Town Travel Deals