Mpumalanga grassland stream

The river is often the environmental feature held dearest by its local community. Meandering through the countryside, stream banks minor or majestic welcome off-duty residents to favoured picnic spots. There are the popular places for swimming, livened up by excited children’s voices but also the quiet and secret nooks for privacy and reflection.

Devastated when the river runs dry, awed when it floods and disgusted when it is polluted, the river is a treasure bigger than the town hall, the main street or the public garden. Love for one’s neighbour may start with caring for the environment and this could focus on wellbeing of the local river.

Caring for the river has become a complex affair dependent on knowledge of many issues and information about what goes on in the entire neighbourhood. Soil quality is affected by floods and developments at the always popular water’s edge. Recovery is harder than maintenance, sometimes slow to regain naturally or in good projects involving well selected plant species.

Programmes for protecting intact river banks and projects for recovering disturbed embankments are best shared between concerned citizens, local authorities and land owners, all of them merely temporary custodians of the natural treasures owed to the generations to come.