Dishwasher products provider Finish and the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa’s (WWF’s) partnership has led to the clearance of 12.8 ha of alien trees that released 28-million litres of water, the protection of three springs and an increased number of communities with improved water access.

The duo first partnered in March 2020 with a focus on protecting strategic water catchment areas and improving the accessibility of clean, quality water to circumvent the expected 17% shortfall in water across South Africa by 2030.

“This might not seem like much, but when you consider the accumulative efforts of all our partners, we are able to release billions of litres of water into the ecosystem and see 1.2-million people benefiting from improved water security,” said WWF Water Source Area programme manager Samir Randera-Rees.

“In a country where water is fast depleting, we can no longer rely on only man-made structures such as dams or artificial waterways.”

The WWF estimates that the invasive alien Wattle plant costs the country the equivalent of $1.2-billion in lost water each year.

Natural sources of water, such as critical wetlands in the northern Drakensberg and various national rivers, are being polluted and drained at a rapid rate.

Finish has invested in aiding WWF’s strategic water source programmes which protect South Africa’s key water catchment areas and includes the clearing of water-intensive invasive plant species spanning hectares and releasing millions of litres of water back into ecosystems.

Additional work is centred around commissioning mapping and impact studies in catchment areas and kick-starting erosion control measures to allow topsoil to recover.

“The work we do with WWF is important owing to water being our most precious natural resource and is fundamental to various industries that contribute to our country’s socioeconomic development and growth,” said Finish parent company Reckitt South Africa partnerships and purpose manager Masibonge Mkhize.

A National Freshwater Priority Areas study has shown that 50% of the population, 64% of the national economy and 70% of irrigated agriculture rely on water from the water source areas.

Further, the partnership employs members of the affected communities as “eco-champs” to act as water custodians in their communities and preserve and protect their local environment.

Their work involves monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of on-the-ground development.

“This is our contribution to making South Africa’s national priorities a reality and aligning to related United Nations Sustainability Development Goal 6 by enabling access to water and sanitation for all,” said Reckitt Africa marketing director Yawer Rasool, adding that the work Finish does in water conservation is fundamentally about limiting water waste.

“To supplement the work we are doing, it is critical that we also evaluate how we all use water and consciously use it as sparingly as possible,” concluded Mkhize.