Edith Stephens Wetlands Park in Philippi Celebrates 50 Years of Partnership in Conservation

During the month of September, the Edith Stephens Wetland Park [ESWP] in Philippi will be buzzing with exciting activities. We will be celebrating the successful partnership for conservation action between institutional stakeholders and communities that underpins Cape Flats Nature's work and is the foundation for future generations benefiting from the City's Biodiversity Network.

The celebrations will include a "Partnership Celebration" on Thursday, 1 September focussing on institutional and community partners and a vibrant "Community Festival" on Heritage Day, 24 September, for the general public to enjoy.

All media are invited to attend the event on Thursday, 1 September 2005:

Time: 12:30 - 16:00 [a buffet lunch will be served]

Venue: Edith Stephens Wetlands Park
Lansdowne Road
Philippi

Keynote Speaker: Cllr Themba Sikhutshwa; Mayoral Committee Member for Planning and Environment

Edith Stephens Wetland Park is a biodiversity treasure box in the heart of the Cape Flats. The Park is named after a passionate botanist, Edith Stephens, who borrowed money to buy a 3.7 ha wetland site in 1955 and donated the land to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens for the conservation of the "Isoetes capensis", a plant found nowhere else in the world.

Today 50 years later, the Park has become a hive of activity. It boasts being a very special place in the City where people and nature meet. Through partnership, it has been transformed into a community asset for the "benefit of present and future generations", particularly the peopleof Manenberg, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Philippi and Hanover Park.

The ESWP is one of four pilot sites of Cape Flats Nature, a partnership between the City of Cape Town, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the Table Mountain Fund (WWF-SA) and the Botanical Society of South Africa, under the banner of Cape Action for People and the Environment (CAPE). Cape Flats Nature builds good practice in sustainable management of City nature areas in a way that benefits the surrounding communities, particularly those where incomes are low andliving conditions poor. The ESWP is indeed a shining example of how local leadership for conservation action is being built.

Issued by:

Charles Cooper
Tel: 021 400 3719
Directorate: Communication And Marketing
City of Cape Town
Email: media@capetown.gov.za
Tel: 021 400 2201
Fax: 021 957 0023

Media Queries:

Zwai Peter
Communication Manager - Cape Flats Nature
Cell: 083 663 7750
Email: zwai@capeflatsnature.org