Black River Tributaries Corridor

The Black River is an urban river that moves through that Cape Flats before merging into the Salt River and flowing out into the Atlantic Ocean. There are a number of tributaries to the Black River, many of which are highly impacted by human disturbance.This corridor project focuses on some of the most intensely disturbed areas. The area of focus includes the Blomvlei, Vygekraal, and Jakkelsvlei tributaries, and the segment of the Black River that connects these tributaries with the Salt River.

Despite this being a relatively small area, it includes a wide variety of suburbs, of riverine habitats, and of environmental and human challenges. The tributaries and rivers pass through Sybrand Park, Pinelands, Belgravia, Heideveld, Langa, and Bonteheuwel, among other suburbs. A large part of the river system is canalised. Litter and dumping problems abound. The Black River has recently been the focus of cleanup activities and the state of the river is improving. Flamingos can be seen here with regularity. However, there is one characteristic that applies throughout this area: the rivers and canals are seen as unattractive hazards instead of being an asset to the areas.

Project goals

This project aims to decrease the human hazards that the river currently poses and to maximise the amount of biodiversity that the river hosts, enabling the river to become a biological corridor. We want to change people's perspectives around the river, by collaborating with local residents and existing community groups and partner organisations on the following activities:

1. Assessment of the state of the rivers and canals, with a particular focus on the status of the vegetation.
2. Identification of river banks and public space near the river where indigenous vegetation could be planted.
3. Development of a 3-5 year greening strategy for the area.
4. Training of local residents in the growing of fynbos and other indigenous species.
5. Development of a network of home nurseries to grow the required plants in line with the greening strategy.
6. Recruitment of garden custodians and volunteers from the area to take charge of the different plots.
7. Preparation, planting, and maintenance of the garden plots by the local community members.
8. Monitoring of the impact of our interventions

Communitree seeks to provide assistance to existing community groups and organisations that work on similar goals.

Progress to date

This project is still at the initial phases. We are starting to develop relationships with existing groups and organisation in the relevant areas to get a better understanding of the challenges and opportunties. In 2019 we established three stepping stone fynbos gardens in the Bonteheuwel and Belgravia area. These gardens are in proximity to the rivers and canals, but additional partnerships will be required to start working right along the canal, which has additional challenges.