Abstract
South Africa is facing cumulative water access and water quality challenges. This is projected
to worsen overtime especially in urban areas due to rapid urbanization. Most rivers in the
country are highly polluted, thus posing a predicament to the communities that are dependent
on them for various ecosystem goods and services they provide. Individual behavioural beliefs
have a direct impact on a person’s perception on environmental problems and their
participation in environmental initiatives. As a result, this affects the level of success of
community-based ecological restoration projects. There has been inadequate data on the
community’s response to environmental programmes and the possible factors that may
influence the residents’ response in the township of Eldorado Park, City of Johannesburg,
Gauteng, South Africa.
This study aimed to investigate factors influencing perceptions, participation, and socioeconomic
impacts of a community-based ecological restoration (CBER) project in Eldorado
Park. A sample of 518 respondents which was comprised of 200 primary school learners, 200
secondary school learners, 100 adult community members, and 18 educators (3 per school)
were selected to participate in 3 questionnaire surveys. Data was analysed by utilizing the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0. Both descriptive and inferential
statistics were generated from the SPSS software through frequencies and percentages.
Three statistical tests were be conducted to analyse the data, namely: The Cronbach’s Alpha,
Spearman rank correlation, and the Kruskal-Wallis Test.
The study found that adult residents and learners of Eldorado Park generally perceive the
state of their environment as poor. Contrary to this, teachers portrayed a different view on this
as they believed the that the current state of environmental affairs in Eldorado Park is ‘fair’.
Moreover, it was found that age and education across different generational cohorts have no
influence in the level of participation in environmental projects. However, lack of environmental
education and resources were identified as the key elements that affect participation of young
people in environmental programmes. This information can be used for future communitybased
ecological restoration projects. The south African curriculum must incorporate
environmental education to instill environmental consciousness in the young. Local
governments must establish programmes that remunerate and provide relevant certification
to participants in environmental initiatives. Moreover, local governments must invest in
resources needed for ecological restoration.
Key words: Community-based ecological restoration, environment, community, ecological
restoration, environmental education.