The status of wetlands, threats and the predicted effect of global climate change: the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa

The larger wetlands of Sub-Saharan Africa, cover 2,072,775 km² (9.01 %) of the landmass. This paper reviews the major threats, including climate change, to these wetlands, a number of which lie in semi-arid regions. Climate change predictions are that the arid or semi-arid regions of Africa in the latitudes around the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer will become drier. The future of wetlands is allied to human well-being, and the effects of climate change cannot be de-linked from human activities occurring in and around wetlands. The high productivity of wetlands supports substantial populations of poor people dependent on ecosystem services for at least part of their livelihood. This is particularly so in the semi-arid Sahel in the North and equivalent latitudes in the south, which are seen as vulnerable to climate change largely due to high levels of poverty and low adaptive capacity. While sustainable ecosystem management is a long-term goal, survival is more immediate to poor people depending on ecosystem services for their livelihoods. Population increase and a decrease in the resource base due to predicted decreased rainfall will lead to over exploitation of the resource base. Certain engineering interventions redistribute ecosystem services to the benefit of those upstream or away from the river system. Governance systems play a key role in the sustainable management of resources. Breakdown of governance systems through civil war is seen as a driver of poverty and a major cause of breakdown in resource conservation, increasing the dependence of poor people on ecosystems.