H
aving staged a successful three-day ‘learning exchange’ with four other biosphere reserves, the Marico Biosphere Reserve, the youngest of ten Unesco-declared reserves in South Africa, is set for greatness in preserving the ‘purest water in the country’.
Declared a biosphere reserve in 2018 the Marico Biosphere Reserve (BR) comprises more than
447 000 hectares stretching from Zeerust to Ottoshoop, Koster and Swartruggens with Groot Marico as centre point in North West. It boasts a core zone which incorporates the Marico, Molopo and Molemane eyes, a wider buffer zone and the larger region designated as its transition zone.
Pure water found here
Its mission is the protection of SA’s largest dolomitic aquifer system which is responsible for delivering some of the purest natural water in South Africa. In December 2022 the Marico Eye alone was pumping out a staggering 700 000 litres an hour of crystal clean water. “That’s enough water to fill a standard household swimming pool every five seconds,” says Daan van der Merwe, executive director of the Marico BR management authority.
“Recognising that water is the key resource for human survival, our three key areas of focus are conservation, research and sustainable development,” says Van der Merwe.
Learning from each other
In November last year (2022) the five biosphere reserves situated in the Limpopo Basin catchment area – Marico, Magaliesberg, Vhembe, Waterberg and Kruger2Canyon – came together in Groot Marico under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and SA’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to exchange ideas, insights and experiences. The gathering was so successful the five organisations committed to staging such exchanges annually.
Key issues debated at the learning exchange included:
- Greater community involvement.
- Roles of youth and women.
- Preservation of diverse cultural heritage issues.
- Improving communication efforts.
- Addressing the perennial threat from mining.
- Tourism & infrastructure constraints.
‘Funding our efforts is arguably the single most critical issue, especially in SA where environmentally sensitive areas face the multifaceted demands posed by human settlements, economic development, heritage protection and sustainable growth,’ says Van der Merwe.
UNESCO biosphere reserve
The lengthy process for the Marico region to be declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve began way back in 1970 when Ds Edwin van Graan of the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk in Groot Marico approached the Transvaal Nature Conservation organisation with a view to having parts of the area declared nature reserves. The process stagnated over the intervening years, but was resuscitated in 2000.
‘We wanted to conserve and protect the upper reaches of the Marico River, but there seemed little real appetite for these efforts until the mining threats in the area around Bokkraal emerged in 2010,’ says Van der Merwe.
‘This spurred interest in protecting the area and in 2011 we established the Marico River Conservation Association. We then applied for the region to be declared a protected environment, but it was only in 2016 that our efforts gained momentum.
‘With the support of the North West provincial government, the area under consideration was greatly expanded to include the current geographical region. The Marico BR is situated in an area where the Vaal, Limpopo and Orange rivers share a watershed.
In scenes reminiscent of an international spy movie, he and his daughter, Irene, currently scientific advisor for the Marico BR, raced to Indonesia to present a massive ring binder comprising the application to meet Unesco’s deadline. ‘Against all odds we beat the deadline, submitted the application and, on 25 July 2018, the Marico BR in its current form was declared,’ says Van der Merwe with no small measure of pride.
As threats to the global environment increase worldwide the work of biosphere reserves increases exponentially. UNESCO has declared more than 700 biosphere reserves in 134 countries across the planet. South Africa boasts ten reserves – in addition to those mentioned above, there are the Cape West Coast, Cape Winelands, Kogelberg, Gouritz Cluster and Garden Route.
