The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the South African Breweries Ltd (SAB) and the government's Working for Water (WfW) Programme launched what is believed to be the world's first fully quantitative water neutral scheme late last year. The scheme allows SAB to voluntarily monitor and reduce its operational water consumption and then offset the residual by investing in projects that clear alien vegetation. This, in turn, releases equivalent volumes of water back into natural aquatic ecosystems.

Visiting the Kouga Catchment Area, which is one of the Water Neutral Scheme’s pilot project sites with SAB, together with representatives from the brewing company today (14 May 2009), Rodney February, Manager of the WWF Water Neutral Scheme said, “One of the major threats to freshwater ecosystems is the invasion of the riparian zone by woody species invasive plants, which replace indigenous vegetation and alter ecosystem functioning. These plants are not only a serious threat to biodiversity, but also to water resources. It is estimated that alien invasives use about 7% of the Mean Annual Runoff (MAR) per year (equivalent to some 3 300 million cubic meters of water per year), reduce the ability to farm; intensify flooding and fires; cause erosion and siltation of dams and estuaries, result in poor water quality and can cause the extinction of indigenous plants and animals”.

Aimed primarily at the private sector, the innovative Water Neutral scheme allows participants to quantitatively balance their water-usage accounts through a three-step process of reviewing, reducing and replenishing water supplies, through the rehabilitation of freshwater ecosystems such as riparian zones, for example.

“Apart from the many functions that they perform, properly functioning riparian zones protect and regulate the water resource, act as sponges which release water slowly back into the system, recharge ground water and also remove pollutants and sediments from the water” said February.

The WWF Water Neutral Scheme’s pilot project with SAB currently focuses on making two of the company’s breweries water neutral by clearing two sites of invasive alien plants which will offset water use at the Newlands Brewery in Cape Town and the Ibhayi Brewery in Port Elizabeth. Part of the SAB Water Neutral investment is currently being used to clear an area 172 ha area of invasives, mainly black wattle (Acacia mearnsii), in the Eastern Cape’s Kouga Catchment.

“The Kouga Catchment was chosen because it feeds the Kouga Dam, one of the main water sources for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, and thus the Ibhayi Brewery. This clearing process is being implemented by a private landowner, through clearing teams initially trained by the WfW programme. To date, 58 hectares have been cleared at this site” says Saskia Fourie, Project Manager of the Kouga Riparian Rehabilitation Programme.

Furthermore a 172 ha area of mainly long-leafed wattle (Acacia longifolia), on the slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain, will be cleared as part of this investment. The site was chosen as it directly feeds the catchment which supplies the Newlands Brewery with its water. This clearing process will be implemented by SANParks WfW team.

“SAB fully supports the ideals of the WWF Water Neutral Scheme, which very closely reflect the company's aims and beliefs regarding water management. For SAB, the conservation and responsible usage of water is not only the right thing to do, but it is central to the success of our business. Without sustainable and safe water supplies, we simply cannot brew beer,” said Nicola Jowell, SAB Corporate Social Investment Manager.