Sustainable Management of Inland Wetlands in Southern Africa: A Livelihoods and Ecosystem Approach

This MSP aims to increase capacity for management of wetlands in both government and non-governmental agencies in southern Africa through generation of new knowledge on wetland functioning and development of sustainable land management options for wetlands. For wetland ecosystems in southern Africa, which are increasingly being used for agriculture, this principal objective offers great potential for benefits in terms of environmental protection, integrated land and water management and sustainable development. The new knowledge generated through this project will inform GEF policies and guidance. Specifically, the project aims to: 1.Enhance the information available to decision-makers and other stakeholders in Southern Africa on wetland resources attributes, linkages with surrounding catchments and degradation status and potential risk. 2.Develop generic guidelines for sustainable land management in wetlands for wetland managers, natural resource planners, and wetland users based on new knowledge of the functions of common wetland types, their processes and linkages with catchments. These guidelines will comprise protocols for assessing the likely impacts and limits of a wide spectrum of human activities in wetlands and surrounding catchments. 3.Demonstrate innovative interventions for sustainable land and water management in those wetland types commonly utilized for agriculture and other livelihood-supporting activities. 4.Enhance the capacity and awareness of sustainable management of wetlands in the southern Africa region at government, extension and grassroots levels. A regional approach has been chosen in addressing these issues primarily because of the widespread dependence of livelihoods on inland wetland ecosystem goods and services in several southern Africa countries. Recent surveys indicate that while actual use varies from site to site, the use of wetlands in most of the countries is similar and land degradation and other problems related to wetland utilisation are comparable. Furthermore, many of the pressures impacting on wetlands are common to all the eight countries. It is envisaged that some of the work will be conducted at the regional scale (e.g., using remotely sensed data). A regional approach enables production of local as well as generic outputs applicable to all of the countries involved and beyond.