Papyrus Swamps Natural Filters for Sewage

The above photo shows a papyrus swamp thriving on sewage that is leaving the municipal treatment facility in Kampala, Uganda in Africa. Papyrus takes up vast quantities of nutrients that would otherwise flow into Lake Victoria.

When the swamps are cleared for farming, nutrients and runoff from the farms pollute local waters as in the other photo taken on another African lake.  Papyrus clearly is a great natural asset and provides an effective environmental barrier at little  cost.

Papyrus Swamps as a Habitat for Birds

The swamps of Africa provide habitats for millions of birds, some of which overwinter there and form the life blood of tourism, tourism which now provides Africa with a major source of foreign exchange.  It is a growth sector not to be ignored.

Conservation of Papyrus Swamps

In several places in Africa efforts to restore and conserve papyrus swamps have begun, but it may be too little, too late.  An encouraging model is the papyrus swamp reserve in the Huleh Valley on the Jordon River in Israel where in 1993 a reclamation program costing $25 million was carried out.  That reclaimed part of the area of papyrus swamp previously cleared for agriculture.  This was the biggest environmental project ever taken up in Israel. The river’s course was to be restored, a lake would be built to replace the original Hula Lake (the Biblical "Waters of Merom"), tourist facilities would be encouraged and hopefully the local water table would rise and help alleviate local agricultural concerns.  All this work was done to reverse the damage caused earlier by clearing the papyrus, and it has paid off.  In recent years the reserve has blossomed, an increase in water quality and tourism has resulted producing a success story that may provide a model for the conservation of papyrus swamps elsewhere.