Threats to and opportunities for traditional production landscapes in African wetlands

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Martin McGee
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1 Threats to and opportunities for traditional production landscapes in African wetlands Olivier Hamerlynck Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team

2 Communities, Plants, Invertebrates, Water, Mammals, Conservation, Carbon, Frogs, Birds, Fish

Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team Multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and multinational consortium of scientists to produce reliable scientific knowledge on

appropriate formats to policy- and decision-makers Main River Floodplains 2000 Niger Inner Delta 1993 2008 Senegal Lake Faguibine Niger Inner Delta Senegal Lake Faguibine Chad

3 Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team Multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and multinational consortium of scientists to produce reliable scientific knowledge on biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being of vulnerable groups Co-construct & share knowledge with local stakeholders, build capacity, empower Avail knowledge in appropriate formats to policy- and decision-makers Main River Floodplains 2000 Niger Inner Delta Senegal Lake Faguibine Niger Inner Delta Senegal Lake Faguibine Chad Chad Sudd Sudd Volta Volta Niger Niger > 500,000 km² High Productivity Ecosystems Vulnerable people Congo Congo Okavango Okavango Turkana Turkana 2006 Tana 2000 Rufiji Rufiji Zambezi Zambezi Limpopo

Number of dams built per decade (source ICOLD 1998) without China (>20,000 since 1950) Civil society and scientific community criticism WCD Work The EPIDEMIC For

4 Number of dams built per decade (source ICOLD 1998) without China (>20,000 since 1950) Civil society and scientific community criticism WCD Work The EPIDEMIC For downstream SEPLs it is essential to promote and obtain managed flood releases for all new dams New funders and builders: China, Brazil, oil nations ignore the WCD

If you didn t write it down it didn t happen African

O., Nyingi, D.W., Paul, J.-L. & Duvail, S. in press.

flexible livelihood portfolios. In Dixon et al. (Eds) 2016.

5 If you didn t write it down it didn t happen African floodplains, coasts, estuaries, deltas & lakeshores Hamerlynck, O., Nyingi, D.W., Paul, J.-L. & Duvail, S. in press. The fish-based farming system: maintaining ecosystem health and flexible livelihood portfolios. In Dixon et al. (Eds) African farming systems and food security: Priorities for science and policy. Earthscan.

6 Photocredit: Sidi Aly Moulaye Zeine Lake Faguibine

7 Lake Faguibine, edge of the Sahara ,000 ha 6,000 ha Annual Rainfall 200 mm Siem Reap 1300 mm Source: UNEP AFRICA Atlas of our changing environment

9 February Agricultural inputs: seeds & labour

10 August Agricultural outputs: 800 $/ha flooded

11 Fisheries: 20 $/ha flooded

12 Livestock Carbon Groundwater Fodder

13 Traditional Governance Systems

14 Hamerlynck, O., et al subm. Reflooding the Faguibine System in Northern Mali, potential benefits and challenges. African Journal of Aquatic Sciences. Flooded surface area (ha) Maintaining the channel: 1 M$/yr post investment, net benefit (in the pocket of the poor) 10 M$/yr Flood peak (cumecs)

15 Main River Floodplains Niger Inner Delta Senegal Lake Faguibine Chad Sudd Turkana Volta Stiegler s Niger > 500,000 km² High Productivity Ecosystems Gorge 5 * dam site Selous GR Vulnerable people 55,000 km² Congo Okavango Tana 2000 Rufiji Rufiji Zambezi Limpopo

Stiegler s Gorge Dam means most of our lakes will dry out Duvail, S. et al 2014. Jointly thinking the post-dam future: exchange of local and scientific knowledge.

16 Stiegler s Gorge Dam means most of our lakes will dry out Duvail, S. et al Jointly thinking the post-dam future: exchange of local and scientific knowledge. Hydrological Sciences Journal 59 (3-4): Hamerlynck et al To connect or not to connect HSJ 56 (8): Stiegler s Gorge Dam means that even the ones that do not dry out will lose their fisheries

17 Feedback Workshops: They Know Household food surveys Fisheries surveys Rainfall Water level Government technical

18 Find people, Collect data, Think together 2006 Tana

19 EIA: No need for flood releases: floods in the delta from local seasonal rivers High Grand Falls Storage x4 400,000 ha irrigation First 5 dams 1970s-1980S: flood peak -20%

20 Communicating the findings: Science video Exhibition Debates Social media Popular press Events WWD Scientific papers Duvail, S. et al Land and water grabbing in an East African coastal wetland. Water Alternatives 5(2):

Pre-electoral context Population Census 2009 1/3 Pokomo 1/3

cattle stayed Armed conflict in 2012-2013 Militias for

21 Pre-electoral context Population Census /3 Pokomo 1/3 Orma + 1/3 Wardei Exceptionally low rains and weak flood: cattle stayed Armed conflict in Militias for political supremacy Over 200 people killed, mainly women and children

22 Tana Peace Dialogue Communities, ministries, parastatals, civil society, NGOs, donors Presentations on water, land, wetland management planning, governance, Sharing power

23 Mad Prat pop

24 Tana River Red Colobus <1200 Onkolde Forest Oxystigma msoo (End.) TDIP failed irrigation scheme embankment

25 The Ocean is Coming

Project title: Biodiversity Values, Ecosystem Services and Water Management of the Eastern African wetlands

1 Project title: Biodiversity Values, Ecosystem Services and Water Management of the Eastern African wetlands Team s goal: Wetlands conservation and management through Multidisciplinary Biodiversity Research