Page 28 - State of Biodiversity 2023-2024

The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Amphibian Programme: using locally led ecosystem restoration and management for threatened amphibian habitats to promoting co-existence of nature and people
Nonkazimlo Mafa
Email: NonkazimloM@ewt.org.za
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) is a Non-profit organization that was established in 1973. For the last 50 years the EWT has been committed to conserving threatened species and ecosystems in southern Africa for the benefit of all. The organizations Threatened Amphibian Programme (TAP) has grown over the last 10 years to become the leading role-layer in amphibian conservation in South Africa. Key to this has been TAP’s long-term focus in KwaZulu-Natal, where they have collaborated with key partners such as the eThekwini Municipality to focus on the conservation of wetland habitat, important for both threatened amphibian species and local communities.
One of TAP’s long-term sites in KZN has been Widenham, is a small (~1.6ha) wetland that comprises a mix of alien thicket/woodland and herbaceous marshland. The wetland is located within the lower reaches of a small coastal stream system and formed immediately upstream of the frontal dune system characteristic of coastal KZN.
In 2019 the EWT initiated actions to protect Widenham wetland and drive long-term management and rehabilitation interventions that would safeguard this little natural space and the species within it for generations to come. A logical approach to achieve this
26 STATE OF BIODIVERSITY REPORT 2023/2024