Historical changes in wetland management legislation and practices in Zimbabwe, and their implications

Navigating through Complexity by Profiling the Main Threats to Sustainable Tropical Wetlands Management and Governance: A Case Study of Mityana District, Uganda

“…7, it is clearly shown that about 7% of the threats to wetlands are environmental mainly related to climate change (increased drought/temperature), wild animals, and seasonal occurrence of pests. These observations have been consistent with most of the research related to the relationship between wetland loss and environmental drivers, especially in the Lake Victoria region [43,59,80] and in most of the inland wetland zones of sub-Sahara Africa [74]. In this section, we further explain the environmental threats that proliferate wetland loss.…”

“…In most studies conducted in sub-Sahara Africa that focused on wetland management strategies, proactive measures on activities that promote wetlands' structural integrity and functionality have been emphasized albeit with few impactevidence case studies [15,61,74]. This among others envisions increased research on the tolerance of indigenous species to environmental stressors [59], increased pollution risk and control research along wetlands [40], wetlands zoning using a sustainable community-centered approach [70] that is also multi-faceted and participatory [41], using of remote sensing and new technologies to monitor wetland riparian zones and land-use threats [55,83], sustainable utilization of papyrus as a biofuel alternative to fuel wood [21,31] and papyrus maintenance [78].…”

“…In shared wetland zones, calls for continuous wetland ecosystems assessments and inventories using feasible ecosystem assessment tools have been envisioned [12]; with a focus on wetlands restoration [42] and sharing of updated information among local communities [3] including gender mainstreaming as agents of positive change [49]. This perspective brings to the fore the need for decentralization of wetland management approaches as initiated in Zimbabwe [13], Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone [10] via the use of locally feasible institutional arrangements, historical knowledge, and inclusive legislation [74].…”

“…Instance, a study of the Lake Victoria wetlands around Zinga Bay reported increased temperatures; a component of climate change affecting thermal inversion along the water column and leading to evapotranspiration and wetland shrinking [61]. The threat of climate change on the loss of wetland resources such as organic matter of wetland peat soils has also been reported in many other tropical zones; especially in seasonal wetlands [74,80] creating a looming food crisis [66]. These threats have been evident around Nakivubo wetlands as heavy rain has increased runoff and silting/flooding, and hot temperatures have led to the drying of Cyperus papyrus, cattails (Typha sp.)…”

“…A related study along the Kashambya wetland found that the wetland sequestrates over 3000t of 373 carbon per year [12]. Even in a micro wetland catchment such as of Kashambya wetland, the functions of wetland resources are many, especially on human livelihoods, they can specifically be identified as economic, social, and cultural goods and services [12], and some of these values can hardly be quantified as they are non-market values in nature such as around the Nile River [67,74].…”