ID: 1295

Restoring abandoned salt pans as a waterbird habitat

A solar saltworks at Swartkops Estuary, Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape, South Africa) was abandoned in 2018 due to the continuous theft and vandalism of the infrastructure. While operational, the salt pans were utilized diverse waterbird communities (of resident and migrant species), and formed an integral component of the Swartkops Global Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). The salt pans were particularly important for providing safe nesting sites for resident species in the form of salt marsh islands isolated from mammalian predators and humans. These islands supported some of the largest breeding colonies of various species (such as Caspian terns, white-breasted cormorants and kelp gulls) in southern Africa. However, the pans have been left to dry and consequently bird abundance and diversity has greatly decreased, leaving this previously diverse ecosystem depauperate. A local non-profit organization and conservation establishment, the Zwartkops Conservancy, along with Cerebos (the previous operating company) are currently planning to restore the salt pans with the main management objective of habitat provision for waterbirds. This entails filling the dry pans with water seasonally so as to coincide with the breeding season of resident birds (during the austral winter). Various options are currently being explored to accomplish this. Among these options are opportunities for treating polluted stormwater and incorporating small local businesses into the restoration. Additionally, the restoration of the site will assist the Conservancy’s efforts to safeguard the IBA status as well as their plans to have the Swartkops Estuary awarded with a Ramsar wetland designation. With the increasing abandonment of salt pans, both in South Africa and abroad, this project will also aim to inspire and produce valuable lessons for similar cases of restoration in the future.

Planned actions

Management of land/water

Protection of land/water