A wetland rehabilitation project originating in Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Education is steadily making progress and is on track to benefit more than 20 000 learners in and around Stellenbosch.

The Rietenbosch wetland project, launched in 2013 and run by SU's EEPUS programme (Environmental Education Programmes University of Stellenbosch), aims to rehabilitate and develop the degraded wetland on the Rietenbosch Primary School premises in Cloestesville. EEPUS functions as a programme of the Department of Curriculum Studies with its main function to include environmental education in all the programmes of the Faculty and to formalise environmental education in schools.

"The Rietenbosch wetland project is now coming into its own," says programme coordinator Prof Chris Reddy, who heads up the EEPUS programme. "We want the wetland area to serve as an educational resource for teachers, learners as well as the broader community of the Cloetesville area," he says.

"When we started the project it involved a physical rehabilitation component which required alien vegetation clearance and then landscaping and the development of water sources and ponds. The physical work is nearing completion now, and in the next year we'll focus on creating a volunteer parent system and a youth club as well as developing and distributing learning support material to teachers which will be aligned with Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)."

According to Reddy, funds recently received from the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, will go a long way in ensuring that the goals of this project become a reality. "The funds will definitely support the professional development of teachers, resource development and final physical rehabilitation of the once degraded wetland," he adds.

"Thus far the process of rehabilitation has spawned partnerships within the university, which meant positive progress. Students from the civil engineering department provided surveying services in the initial stages of the project and developed a contour profile for the site which is useful to the contractor doing the landscaping and shaping of the wetland. This was a free service which saved us money.

"The purchasing department of the administration and facilities management staff have also been very useful to us. They provided expertise related to the tender processes, developing work specifications for the contractors as well as monitoring of the site and work progress."

Reddy says learners, teachers and the school governing body have received detailed information by way of talks and onsite visits. "They are very enthused and excited about the prospects and the development as a whole and we have their full support. We have also planned a meeting with parents and community members for later this year to introduce them to the idea of the wetland as a recreational resource and a community asset."

Says the National Lotteries' Sershan Naidoo: "The National Lotteries Commission is committed to assist non-profit projects that aim to protect our environment, especially when the projects include raising awareness with school children. We want to ensure that our conservation efforts filter down to the younger generation who will, in turn, continue to preserve our environment for future generations."

According to Mr Roy van Rooyen, principal of Rietenbosch Primary, this initiative is beneficial to the school and the community as a whole. "This project is unique and our learners are extremely excited to be a part of it. I hope this initiative will expand and serve as an example to other schools and communities of what can be done."