Blesbokspruit

Blesbokspruit is a river that originates north of Daveyton, Gauteng, South Africa. It runs south and later west, past the towns of Springs, Nigel and Heidelberg, before it joins the Suikerbosrand River, a tributary of the Vaal River. The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is situated in its upper reaches, established when the roads and pipelines reached the nearby mines in 1930. An area of 1,848 ha was declared a Ramsar site wetland in 1986, to combat deleterious effects of industrial pollution in the area. The Blesbokspruit wetland is close to Springs on the East Rand in Gauteng. Like all wetlands the Blesbokspruit wetland plays an important role in the ecology of the environment:

• it slows down the flow of the floodwaters, reducing flood damage
• it stores water during periods of heavy rainfall and slowly releases this water back into the stream. as a result, the stream continues to flow during dry periods
• it filters and cleans the water.
• it provides a habitat for many organisms. they can find food, shelter and a place to breed in the wetlands. Various fish, crabs, birds, small mammals and many other organisms live in this wetland.
• farmers in the area use the water to irrigate their crops.

Some of the plants and animals that can be found on the Bleksbokspruit wetland are heron, bulrushes, phargmites reeds, yellow-billed duck, water mongoose and giant bullfrog.