A huge thank you to our supporters for calling for the protection of Paardevlei wetland by signing the petition! We now have 4854 signatures and still counting thanks to you! 

The Friends of Paardevlei have been in touch with the City of Cape Town Biodiversity Management branch and have the following update: 

“There is still an internal process running with regards to Paardevlei.

The property currently sits with our Human settlements colleagues. Unfortunately we have very little influence as it stands and can only comment through our internal process as we have done.

Once the matter has been resolved we will take the site to the review committee to assign a conservation status and then take it from there.” 

This is a key moment for us to show how important the vlei is to local residents and how much we want to see it protected. We’re also gathering data about the biodiversity present at the vlei with the help of WESSA to support the call for protection. You can check our site out at https://conservation.shorthandstories.com/protect-the-paardevlei-wetland/

Please get in touch if you can offer any expertise in the ecological field. 

We’ve had some interesting sightings at the vlei this past month: an Egyptian (Large Grey) mongoose, our stray Jacana is still present and members have spotted up to 7 Marsh Terrapins sunbathing in the now full vlei. 

We would also love to hear from you if you would like to be added to our whatsapp group. You can find our Facebook page linked on the site above. 

Thanks again for your support and we will keep you updated if there is any further progress. 

In the meantime keep sharing and you can also email your local councillor and/or mayor as well as to express concern about the status of the vlei.

Kind regards, 

Tiffany and the Friends of Paardevlei Committee 

(Photo Credit Cornelia van Zyl)