Ensuring Disaster Risk Reduction via Sustainable Wetland Development

Abstract:

Wetland ecosystems around the world are increasingly being targeted as land use development ‘hotspots’ under growing concerns of climate variability and food security. Anthropogenic encroachment on natural wetland ecosystems can have direct consequences locally through loss of biodiversity and regionally through increased disaster risks associated with, for example, flooding. We consider two regionally-relevant wetland ecosystems in eastern Africa, namely Zambia’s Lukanga Swamps and Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley, experiencing varying trajectories of development under climatic variations. These regions have been targeted for inclusive, multi-stakeholder initiatives that aim at developing agricultural potential through combinations of large and small scale irrigation schemes. Through our data-driven analysis we highlight the potential for shifts in hydrologic regime of each wetland ecosystem which can have significant regional impacts on disaster risks. In the case of the Lukanga Swamps, wetlands maintain water table fluctuations that help mitigate water cycling with implications for the downstream flooding impact of annual rains. With regards to Kilombero Valley, understanding seasonal changes in hydrological processes and storages provides the cornerstone for managing future water resource impacts/feedbacks under different scenarios of land management. This work emphasizes the need to tailor strategies towards sustainable uses of wetlands that reduce disaster risks regionally while contributing to improved community health and wellbeing. It remains an open (and fundamental) question of how to best define management recommendations and activities that not only achieve climate resiliency but also are acceptable for stakeholders without compromising the balance between ecosystem service supply and biodiversity conservation.