South Africa is losing 4% of its water supply to non-native plant species.

This is according to the “Valuing Rivers” report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Sunday in Stockholm‚ Sweden.

“Non-native species‚ such as eucalyptus‚ are ‘thirstier’ than the native plants they have replaced‚ sucking up through their roots and evaporating an additional 1.4-trillion litres of water per year.”

The report said the loss could quadruple as non-native species spread.

The WWF believes Cape Town is a city which shows that investing in nature-based solutions can ease its dependence on groundwater pumping and desalination during droughts.