Cape Town may have lost 15% of its wetlands over a nine-year period

The Mother City may have lost more than 5 000 hectares of potential wetland area in nearly a decade, according to the City’s latest spatial trends report.

The 2025/26 Spatial Trends and Implementation Tracking report gives an overview of development and land use patterns in Cape Town from 2012 to 2026.

According to estimates, wetland area in the metro fell from approximately 33 106 hectares in 2016 to 28 002 hectares in 2025.

That represents a net decline of roughly 5 104 hectares, or 15%.

Where Cape Town’s wetlands are under pressure

The report identifies several areas affected by wetland loss and degradation.

These include Driftsands Nature Reserve, where associated vleis have been affected by land invasions during the Covid-19 period.

Noordhoek vlei has also been impacted by the expansion of informal settlements from Masiphumelele.

Other affected areas include the Diep River and Kleine Stink River floodplains, seasonal vleis in the Slangetjiebos section of False Bay Nature Reserve, and vleis along the lower Kuils and Eerste rivers.

“On-the-ground observations indicate significant wetland transformation and degradation associated with urban expansion, land invasion, pollution, and hydrological modification,” the report states.

Drought and development

The report says rainfall patterns also influenced the estimates. The severe 2015–2018 drought, followed by wetter years, coincided with fluctuations in potential wetland extent.

It suggests reduced surface water availability and weaker hydrological connections contributed to lower estimates between 2017 and 2022.

“Although modest recoveries were observed during wetter years, the overall declining trend suggests that longer-term pressures, including urban expansion, land transformation, hydrological modification, and climate change, could be contributing to persistent wetland loss across Cape Town,” the report concluded.

Important note: The figures stated above are based on wetland probability mapping rather than a direct count of wetlands or vleis physically destroyed. The City used a machine-learning classification method to identify potential wetland areas across Cape Town.

Meanwhile, over the same period, informal structures in Cape Town have increased by 67%. Read more on that story here.