Berg River 20: Admiral Island Saltmarsh and Port Owen Canals (32451809) | |
|---|---|
Western Cape | |
| CWAC status | NEWLY REGISTERED |
| Authority | |
| Management status | Private and Coastal Public Property |
| Conservation status | Unprotected |
| IBA information | Berg River Estuary IBA |
| Ramsar information | Berg Estuary Ramsar Site; no. 2466 |
| Heritage information | |
| View Cards | |
Information |
|---|
| Date_registered |
| 2026-02-09 |
| Brief_description |
| The Berg River estuary is an IBA, KBA, and Ramsar site, and one of South Africa’s most important estuaries for conservation, particularly for its fish and birdlife. It supports a diverse mosaic of habitats: intertidal mudflats, sand and mud banks, salt, sedge and reed marshes, open water, commercial saltworks, and ephemeral salt pans that provide key feeding, breeding, and roosting areas. Its extensive floodplains in the middle and upper reaches, especially on farms such as Kliphoek, Krusipad, Doornfontein, Langrietvlei, and Kersefontein, are unique in the Western Cape and sustain a high diversity of waterbirds. The estuary is especially important for migratory and resident waders, as well as herons, egrets, cormorants, pelicans, terns, and waterfowl, including viable populations of several threatened species. Despite its importance, the estuary lacks formal protection and is increasingly threatened by reduced freshwater inflows (e.g., dams), declining water quality (e.g., eutrophication and pollution), overfishing (e.g., gill net fishing), habitat loss from mining and housing developments, intense recreational disturbance (e.g., accelerated bank erosion from boat wake action), and climate-change impacts such as prolonged droughts. |
| Physical_features |
| THREATENING FACTORS: • Erosion – 3 • Eutrophication and Pollution – 3 • Alien animals (fish) – 3 • Fishing operations – 4 • Wetland reclamation – 1 (currently)/ 4 (historically) • Wetland modification -3 • Water abstraction -3 • Tourism/ recreation -2 • Residential/ urban development -3 |
| Hydrological_features |
| WETLAND/ SITE CLASSIFICATION (%): • Intertidal marshes inc. salt (40%) • Canals and drainage channels (60%) • Dominant substrate type: Mud • Acidity: would have to look this up – likely to be slightly alkaline, but will depend on organic/ nutrient content • Salinity: Saline • Approximate size: 20-100ha • Approximate depth: 0.5-1m (but the canals are >2m) • Part of mosaic of wetlands • Approximate size: 30 ha • Approximate length/ width: can measure length and width of canals? |
| Ecological_features |
| HABITAT/ WETLAND COMPOSITION: • Canals – open water (100%) • Saltmarsh – intertidal saltmarsh (90%) • Saltmarsh – supratidal saltmarsh (10%) |
| Spp | Common name | Taxonomic name | Min | Avg | Max | IBA | Subregional IBA | RAMSAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1016 | Anas platyrhynchos | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | ||||
| 48 | Cormorant, Cape | Phalacrocorax capensis | 6 | 6.00 | 6 | |||
| 50 | Cormorant, Reed | Microcarbo africanus | 11 | 11.00 | 11 | |||
| 47 | Cormorant, White-breasted | Phalacrocorax lucidus | 6 | 6.00 | 6 | |||
| 10034 | Duck, Hyrbid Mallard/Yellow-billed | Anas platyrhynchos x undulata | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 59 | Egret, Little | Egretta garzetta | 3 | 3.00 | 3 | |||
| 89 | Goose, Egyptian | Alopochen aegyptiaca | 13 | 13.00 | 13 | |||
| 88 | Goose, Spur-winged | Plectropterus gambensis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 6 | Grebe, Little | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 7 | 7.00 | 7 | |||
| 263 | Greenshank, Common | Tringa nebularia | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 289 | Gull, Hartlaub's | Chroicocephalus hartlaubii | 9 | 9.00 | 9 | |||
| 287 | Gull, Kelp | Larus dominicanus | 9 | 9.00 | 9 | |||
| 55 | Heron, Black-headed | Ardea melanocephala | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 54 | Heron, Grey | Ardea cinerea | 3 | 3.00 | 3 | |||
| 81 | Ibis, African Sacred | Threskiornis aethiopicus | 9 | 9.00 | 9 | |||
| 84 | Ibis, Hadada | Bostrychia hagedash | 4 | 4.00 | 4 | |||
| 394 | Kingfisher, Pied | Ceryle rudis | 35 | 35.00 | 35 | |||
| 245 | Lapwing, Blacksmith | Vanellus armatus | 18 | 18.00 | 18 | |||
| 69 | Night Heron, Black-crowned | Nycticorax nycticorax | 5 | 5.00 | 5 | |||
| 270 | Stilt, Black-winged | Himantopus himantopus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 298 | Tern, Greater Crested | Thalasseus bergii | 4 | 4.00 | 4 | |||
| 296 | Tern, Sandwich | Thalasseus sandvicensis | 3 | 3.00 | 3 | |||
| 274 | Thick-knee, Water | Burhinus vermiculatus | 13 | 13.00 | 13 | |||
| 686 | Wagtail, Cape | Motacilla capensis | 13 | 13.00 | 13 | |||
| 268 | Whimbrel, Eurasian | Numenius phaeopus | 3 | 3.00 | 3 |
Wednesday 11 March 2026 09:17
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department
of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town
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