Desertification is a growing challenge.
One neglected aspect of this challenge is the loss of wetlands through drainage and degradation. This can remove critical sources of moisture in dry areas, causing springs to dry up and making the flow of streams and rivers more seasonal.
Wetland degradation is often associated with changes in land use in catchments so that there is reduced water infiltration, while specific management practices within wetlands also usually contribute to wetland loss.
Degraded catchment and severly over-drained wetland
CWEL has been involved in measures to rehabilitate degraded wetlands and to reverse wetland loss through the Ethiopian Wetlands Research Project (1997-2000). This monitored wetland sites subject to degradation and rehabilitation, identifying appropriate measures for wetland rehabilitation. This work has been taken further with the Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association through a pilot project which is developing integrated wetland and catchment management measures. This package of measures, proven in the south-west of the country, is now being tested in the more degraded northern part of Ethiopia where a wetland rehabilitation project is being implemented in association with the Convention to Combat Desertification (2004-2006).
The need for a landscape approach to wetland rehabilitation in order to achieve sustainable wetland management is acknowledged in many parts of Eastern and Southern Africa and projects to develop community-based approaches to this are being explored by CWEL in association with Wetland Action and other NGO partners.
- EWRP Report on Wetland Rehabilitation
- Wetland Rehabilitation in the Lake Tana Basin
- Rehabilitating Dambos and Catchments in Southern Africa
- UN Convention to Combat Desertification
- Wetlands and Desertification