Wetland Resources Research Articles

Impacts of Farming Activities on the Conservation of Sondu River Basin in Kericho County, Kenya

Governments and environmental conservationists agree that wetland resources need to be utilized sustainably to ensure the continued presence of wetlands and their ecological goods and services. Ideally, wetlands should be integrated into the national and local land use plans to ensure sustainable use and management of the resources. However, this is not the case as far as Kenya is concerned. Instead, there is rampant exploitation of wetlands by individuals, organizations and even government agencies with no regard for environmental conservation. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the impact of human activities on wetland conservation with a focus on the Sondu River Basin. The objective of the study was to establish the farming activities on the Conservation of Sondu River Basin Kericho County, Kenya. The study was grounded on the integrated water resource management theory. This study adopted a concurrent triangulation research design, which entailed a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data. The target population for the study was 164 respondents in which a sample of 144 respondents was selected using Slovin's formula. The sample was randomly selected with the inclusion criterion being that the chosen respondents were homogeneously engaged in human activities that affected wetland conservation. Intensive data cleaning exercise was carried out including checking for outliers, missing data imputation and variable transformation. The collected data were analyzed by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and summation and presented in the form of tables and charts. The results of the study will inform policy and practice in the management and conservation of the Sondu River wetland area. The study established that human activities such as farming, logging, construction, drilling, building and construction and settlements have immensely hampered conservation of Sondu wetland. Further, it was noted that it is indeed possible to gain vital information about the human activities responsible for the degradation of wetlands.

Effects of Human Settlements on the Conservation of Sondu River Basin, Kenya

Governments and environmental conservationists agree that wetland resources need to be utilized sustainably to ensure the continued presence of wetlands and their ecological goods and services. Ideally, wetlands should be integrated into the national and local land use plans to ensure sustainable use and management of the resources. However, this is not the case as far as Kenya is concerned. Instead, there is rampant exploitation of wetlands by individuals, organizations and even government agencies with no regard to environmental conservation. Therefore, this study was undertaken to investigate the impact of human activities on wetland conservation with a focus on the Sondu River Basin. The objective of the study was to establish the effects of human settlements on the conservation of the Sondu River Basin. The study was grounded on the integrated water resource management theory. This study adopted a concurrent triangulation research design which entailed a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data. The target population for the study was 164 respondents in which a sample of 144 respondents was selected using Slovin’s formula. The sample was randomly selected with the inclusion criterion being that the chosen respondents were homogeneously engaged in human activities that affected wetland conservation. Intensive data cleaning exercise was carried out including checking for outliers, missing data imputation and variable transformation. The collected data were analysed by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and summation and presented in the form of tables and charts. The results of the study will inform policy and practice in the management and conservation of the Sondu River wetland area. The study established that human activities such as farming, logging, construction, drilling, building and construction and settlements have immensely hampered conservation of Sondu wetland. Further, it was noted that it is indeed possible to gain vital information about the human activities responsible for the degradation of wetlands.

Evolution and Prediction of Coastal Wetland Landscape Pattern: An Exploratory Study

Zhang, Y.-J.; Qu, J.-G., and Li, D., 2020. Evolution and prediction of coastal wetland landscape pattern: An exploratory study. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 553–556. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Wetlands are among the most important natural resources in the world, a human treasure house with many resources. According to the convention on wetlands, wetlands can be natural or artificial, permanent or temporary swamps, wet plains, peatlands, and water areas, which are water bodies with static, flowing, fresh water, brackish water, or salt water, including shallow water areas with a depth of no more than 6 m at low tide. This article mainly studies the coastal wetland of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, by remote sensing, GIS, and GPS technology and cellular automata modeling. Based on the remote sensing images of 1992, 2000, and 2008, the cellular automata model of the Yancheng coastal wetland is established. Through the relevant data, this article analyzes the evolution process of wetland landscape pattern, which plays an important role in the prediction of wetland changes in Yancheng. Through this model, the landscape data in 2020 are predicted. Finally, this article puts forward some sustainable development measures, which can better protect the wetland resources of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province.

Inland wetland time-series digital change detection based on SAVI and NDWI indecies: Wadi El-Rayan lakes, Egypt

Water resource scarcity and climate change impacts are putting pressure on Egyptian government to achieve the water, energy and food security nexus in order to find optimized choices compromising between environmental ecosystems and the society. Despite of being considered as an ecological restoration success, Wadi El-Rayan (WR) wetlands is becoming a depleted ecosystem due to water resources vulnerability. The primary objective of this study is to apply remote sensing (RS) data and GIS methods to the various components of the WR wetland ecosystem, including vegetation, water and soil, and to assess their recent status over the previous three decades. Four multi-temporal/multi-spectral Landsat were analyzed, including TM (1990, 1999 and 2010) and OLI-TIRS (2019). Vegetation and water indices were employed to extract the vegetation, water and soil features in order to assess the change scenarios. The results showed that open soil increased significantly during the study period, particularly during the past ten years, with a concomitant decrease in the vegetation and water body areas. The study therefore indicates that the protection of the existing wetland resources for sustainable use for the next generation must be urgently considered.

Analyse the biodiversity and socio-economic values of the wetlands in Vietnam

The object of research is biodiversity and humanistic ecology values of the wetlands and the negative impacts of the socio-economic development on wetland ecosystem. Propose practical solutions for the conservation, management and sustainable use of the wetland resources for the sustainable development of Vietnam. Vietnam’s wetland area is about 12 million hectares, accounting for one third of the natural area. The wetland ecosystem in Vietnam contains a high level of biodiversity, contains various important ecological functions and values, directly affects people's livelihoods, and plays a major role in the country’s socio-cultural life. Vietnam has 9 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites – The Wetlands of International Importance). However, some wetland areas are increasingly degraded in both quality and quantity of species due to over-exploitation and over-use. In this study, utilized various research methods including desk research, secondary analysis, and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA), which is carried out to collect data from decision makers and community in Xuan Thuy National Park (Nam Dinh province) and in Tram Chim National Park (Dong Thap province). As a result of the research shown that the major challenges to wetlands in Vietnam include: unsustainable exploitation; imbalanced utilisation and conservation of wetlands; lack of comprehensive wetlands data to meet the requirements of wetland management and sustainable development. The conservation and use of the wetland areas in Vietnam must be carried out on the principle of approaching the ecosystem, ensuring the maintenance of the entire structure, functions, ecological characteristics and biodiversity of the wetland areas. For which the authors recommend increasing the role and participation of the communities living in and around the wetland areas and stakeholders in the conservation and sustainable use of the wetlands. Ensure a fair and equitable benefit sharing mechanism based on equal rights and obligations among stakeholders in the use of wetland ecosystem services

Integrating ecological and socioeconomic networks using nitrogen metabolism in the Yellow River Delta, China

Coastal wetland resources are important factors restricting the sustainable economic development of the Yellow River Delta of China (i.e., Dongying city). The objectives of this study were to develop a method to integrate ecological and socioeconomic networks to make the currently independent research on ecology and social economy more cohesive and measure the sustainable development of wetland resources and economy. In this study, we constructed a nitrogen metabolism network model to connect the two networks using certain nodes as interfaces by material transfer, resource utilization or public environment. We used ecological network analysis to examine nitrogen flows and relationships over two decades, i.e., from 1995 to 2015. A total of 26 nodes connected 135–136 direct and 676 integral paths in the integrated metabolic network. The results showed that Dongying city was in a state of nitrogen accumulation, and nitrogen sequestration increased in the atmosphere and decreased in coastal wetlands. Three key paths of nitrogen flow growth and 12 stable key paths were identified. Key nodes with a higher influence on the specific node were observed based on the integral flow. Stable competition relationships mainly existed within wetland resources, and intricate exploitation relationships existed in the socioeconomic system and between wetland resources and socioeconomic nodes. The findings of this work indicate that nitrogen metabolism is suitable for accurately identifying the key nodes, paths and influences from human activities, and ecological relationships of an integrated network, which can provide a reference for wetland restoration, industrial restructuring and urban sustainability.

Threats to sustainable utilization of wetland resources in ZIMBABWE: a review

Wetlands are some of the most productive natural ecosystems in Zimbabwe as they provide a wide range of goods and services. The article examines spatial and temporal changes in wetland utilization patterns as well as threats to these fragile ecosystems and proffers suggestions to achieve sustainable use of wetlands. Literature on wetland use shows that cultivation (73%) and livestock grazing (36%) are the dominant wetland use activities in Zimbabwe. Combined with urban housing development, these land uses are the biggest contributors to wetland degradation and loss. About 57% and 27% of wetlands are in the moderately and severely degraded categories respectively. However, the effect of land uses, especially cultivation, on wetland ecology, is heterogeneous. Livestock grazing changes vegetation structure and composition and, ultimately, disturbs the wetland’s hydrology. Settlement establishment results in the disappearance of the wetland ecosystem. Considering that the two dominant land uses, cultivation and livestock grazing, are cornerstones of rural economies, there is need for further research to understand spatial variations on the impacts of similar land uses on different wetland types in different geographical settings. Therefore, further research should be done to understand the sustainability of human land uses on different wetland types, depending on their hydrogeomorphic characteristics, in order to continually promote sustainable development of the dependent societies.

A Multi-Scale, Participatory Approach to Developing a Protected Area Wetland Inventory in South Africa

Given limited time, staffing and specialist expertise, management of wetlands within biodiversity-rich protected areas of developing countries is often held back by a lack of information on the extent and nature of wetland resources. Rapid, realistic and effective wetland ecosystem assessment methods are needed to develop a baseline for monitoring that detects trends and guides management. Lack of available in-house wetland expertise stimulated a novel team which harnessed wide-ranging complementary and, ultimately, indispensable expertise, spanning all branches of the park, including park management and rangers, Scientific Services and Biodiversity Social Projects. Within a year, the team developed a sufficiently comprehensive inventory which captured the variation of wetlands present in Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa. A total of 267 wetlands were mapped, while 62 were visited in the field and assessed through rapid verification. Careful collation of existing data and imagery informed a catchment approach, an emphasis on wetland-landscape connectivity, and strategic targeting of a sub-set of important and representative sites deserving of targeted, high effort field assessment. The remaining wetlands not visited in the field were subject to desktop review. Overall, this resulted in a comprehensive overview assessment of the entire Park at multiple scales. The approach of convening a multi-disciplinary team supports strengthened governance and integrated implementation of the findings into park planning, management and rehabilitation. The process provides a potential template for rolling out similar work in other parks and other areas that have limited funding and capacity.

Mapping complex coastal wetland mosaics in Gabon for informed ecosystem management: use of object‐based classification

AbstractWetlands of coastal Gabon provide many ecosystems services including flood protection, water purification and wildlife habitat. Effective sustainable management of this coastal zone is hindered by a lack of accurate wetland maps. Here we describe a novel method used to map the wetland ecosystems of nearly 100 000 km2 of wetland and upland habitat mosaic in the delta of the Ogooué River using an object‐based classification of optical and radar satellite imagery based on training data collected from unmanned aerial vehicle and a post‐classification accuracy assessment using helicopter‐based video. We identified 15 land cover classes, of which nine were wetland. A stratified random sample accuracy assessment of the final classification yielded an overall accuracy of 0.80. Despite the important role that wetland habitats play for wildlife and ecosystem functioning across the region, our results indicate these wetlands cover only 22% of the project area. As expected, most of the wetland habitats are found close to major water bodies, including the Ogooué River, estuaries near the cities of Libreville and Port Gentil and coastal lagoons to the south of these cities. When considering the six Wetlands of International Importance designated under the Ramsar Convention within the project area, only 33% of mapped wetlands fall within the Ramsar site boundaries and only 10% of mapped wetlands fall within protected areas. Furthermore, within the Ramsar sites, only 31% of the land cover was classified as wetland. In order to better manage these wetland resources, more effective Ramsar boundaries would include the extensive wetland habitats found along the coast from Port Gentil south to Loango National Park. These data are now available for managers to improve wetland management within designated Ramsar sites and improving protection designations for vulnerable habitats, for example by protecting wetland connectivity and other ecosystem processes.

Economic value of wetlands services in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

This study estimates the economic values of wetlands services in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. A choice experiment valuation method was used to quantify monetary value of wetlands. The study used data collected from 405 households complemented with data collected using Participatory Rural Appraisals. Multinomial logit and random parameter logit models were used to analyze the data. The results have demonstrated the economic values of wetlands in the study area. Households ascribe the highest value for biodiversity (marginal willingness to pay value of US $1.26 per percentage of biodiversity conserved), followed by water availability (US $0.87 per ha increase in open water surface area). The statistical inferences, however, showed significant heterogeneity among households in their preference for wetland management alternatives. The probability of choosing improved wetland management is significantly reduced by age of the household head and distance; while, it is increased by education, income and location. The finding also revealed an average and aggregate willingness to pay of US $7.5 and 694,141, respectively, for a change from status quo to high impact improvement scenario. It is, thus, recommended to take rehabilitation and conservation measures to ensure sustainable use and management of wetland resources in the area.

Spatial Patterns and Spatial Autocorrelations of Wetland Changes in China During 2003-2013

Wetlands play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functions. Wetlands in China have suffered intensive human disturbance, especially before 2000, resulting in great losses and degradation. Therefore, two national wetland resource surveys were carried out by the Chinese government during 1998-2003 and 2008-2013 to determine the status of wetlands, understand their dynamics, and provide substantial data that can aid scientific wetland conservation. Based on the survey data, the spatial pattern and spatial autocorrelation were explored using the standard deviation ellipse as well as global and local spatial autocorrelation statistics. GIS mapping was employed to display the results via the visualization of the spatial patterns and relationships. Results indicate that:① Changes in the wetlands of China are significant and exhibit obvious regional differences. The center of the ellipse of the total wetlands has moved to the west, and the degree of spatial differentiation between natural wetlands and artificial wetlands is increasing. There is no significant spatial autocorrelation for changes in artificial wetlands. ② The changes in natural wetlands are significantly spatially autocorrelated and clustered, which are identified by global Moran's I and local Moran's I. The hotspots of natural wetland change are concentrated primarily in Qinghai, Tibet, and Sichuan. The individual hotspot is in Inner Mongolia and the cold spot is in Henan. The difference in spatial autocorrelation between natural and artificial wetland changes indicates that natural wetland changes have shown spatial continuity, while artificial wetland changes have shown strong spatial randomness. ③ Some useful spatial associations are used to delineate wetland conservation effects. Then, three major or five minor effective protection management regions are identified. Wetland conservation efforts should be continuously strengthened and improved, especially in the middle-lower Yangtze River region of central China. The use of Moran statistics helps to reveal spatial autocorrelation and identify the conservation effects in wetland changes, which can provide a basis for decision-making in regional wetland conservation and management systems.

Valuing Fishing Activity of the Deepor Beel

The Deepor Beel is one of the large and important riverine wetlands in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, India. The only Ramsar site of Assam, the Beel is one of the richest biodiversity grounds in the wetland eco-system of the state. The Deepor Beel is the hub of a wide range of organisms. It provides various goods and services directly or indirectly to the villages near to the beel for their livelihood. Despite its contribution to society and ecology as a whole, these goods and services of the Beel are undervalued in the policy provisions. The prime reason for this undervaluation is that most of the goods and services of the Beel are non-marketable and those goods which have direct use-values are never valued in an economic term. To fill the gap partially, this study tries to estimate the direct use values of the Deepor Beel. Among the goods the Deepor Beel provides, fishing can be considered one of the economically significant goods. Fishing provides livelihood directly to 825 households living near the Beel. Therefore, this research tries to estimate the direct use value of fishing in the Deepor Beel. A market price approach is applied to estimate the value of this wetland resource. Net Present Value (NPV) of fishing is also estimated. The total estimated value of fishing is INR 11,64,69,375 per annum. The estimated value of fishing per hectare is INR 29,015.78 per annum. The estimated Net Present Value (NPV) of fishing is INR 97,05,78,125. This valuation is important to draw the attention of the policymakers for resource investment in conserving the Beel for continued benefits.

Spatial Relationship between Natural Wetlands Changes and Associated Influencing Factors in Mainland China

Many studies have explored the dynamic change of wetlands distribution which play an important role in wetlands conservation and its sustainable management. However, given an uneven distribution of natural wetland resources in the context of global change, little is known about the spatial relationship between natural wetlands changes and associated influencing factors in mainland China. In this study, Moran-based spatial statistics are an effective methodology to examine the spatial patterns of natural wetlands and associated influencing factors at the province level, and GIS mapping is applied to help visualize spatial patterns. Results show that 1) significant spatial agglomeration and regional differences of natural wetlands distribution have been captured by Moran’s I statistics, and the agglomeration level has increased over the past ten years; 2) Seven of the eight factors show significantly strong and positive spatial autocorrelation except for water consumption, and spatial patterns of them show significant spatial clusters or spatial outliers; 3) Spatial coordination between natural wetlands distribution and the associated influencing factors is higher in the western region than in east China and northeast China. Moreover, spatial coordination between a cultivated area or water consumption and natural wetlands distribution is weaker than that of other factors. Finally, the influences generated by neighboring provinces should not be neglected in the implementation of wetlands conservation. This study could provide a scientific basis for the policy making of wetlands conservation and sustainable management systems.

Evaluation of the cultural ecosystem services of wetland park

• The 9 CES types of the wetland park were quantitatively evaluated by SolVES model. • The gender of the respondents impacted the assessment of wetland CES. • The background environmental variable was indirect driving factor of the CES value. • Wetland was the most important environmental data for the CES of the wetland park. • CES transfer from XNWP to GNUWP provided valid results. One of effective ways to maintain and expand the protected area of wetlands is the development and construction of wetland parks. As urbanization increases, deep insight on the relationships between wetland cultural ecosystem services and natural environment has become critical. In this paper, we identified and mapped the cultural ecosystem services of two wetland parks (the Xiuhu National Wetland Park and the Guanyintang National Urban Wetland Park) by using the Social Values for Ecosystem Services model and the preference survey data. The results show that 1) the highest score of the cultural ecosystem services of Xiuhu National Wetland Park is the biodiversity perception value with a max value index of 10, and then future value and history value with a max value index of 9, aesthetic value and recreation value with a max value index of 8, and culture value, learning value, spiritual value and therapeutic value with a max value index of 7; 2) subjectively, the gender of the respondents affected the evaluation of cultural ecosystem services. The male prefers the aesthetic value, culture value, recreation value, spiritual value and therapeutic value, while female prefers the history value; 3) objectively, the cultural ecosystem services of wetland is affected by various environmental data layers; 4) the cultural ecosystem services values are transferred from Xiuhu National Wetland Park to Guanyintang National Urban Wetland Park, and the transferred value of Guanyintang National Urban Wetland Park has performed well. Our findings suggest that the Social Values for Ecosystem Services model is appropriate to serve such small-scale wetland park and our results can provide a scientific basis for wetland park managers and planners to optimize the cultural ecosystem services and protect wetland resources.

Modeling flood plain wetland transformation in consequences of flow alteration in Punarbhaba river in India and Bangladesh

Ecologically precious and economically remunerative wetland resources in the riparian flood plain of Punarbhaba river basin are under massive transformation in post hydrological alteration phase triggered mainly by damming. It affects the people who are directly and indirectly depends on these resources. The present work intends to measure the degree and direction of wetland transformation in reference to the river flow change using multi-date satellite images. For addressing this issue, modeling of river flow change, wetland area, wetland depth, wetland water appearance consistency within wetland and landscape transformations have been done in pre and post dam periods (dam over Punarbhaba river is installed on 1992) and future state is also predicted. Modeling wetland transformation using advance geo-spatial and machine learning techniques like combined cellular automata-markov chain, water presence frequency approach, spatial nonlinear regression (adaptive spline) is quite new in such data sparse condition. NDWI intensity transformation modeling is a novel approach and it is successfully applied in this work. Few major findings of this works are (1) river flow is declined in post dam phase and further predicted to be declined in coming days (2) reduction of peak flow has reduced wetland area by 34.52% in post dam period and predicted to be decreased by 22.66% by 2030 (3) NDWI intensity of wetland is also declined by 37.87% and it is caused for drying out 40.26 km2 shallower wetland. Simulated trend shows further decline of wetland depth in predicted model. (4)10.56% highly consistent wetland is transformed into inconsistent wetland in terms of water presence (5) encroachment of agriculture land and infrastructural development have enhanced the degree of wetland fragmentation.

Soil Organic Carbon Pool and its Storage in Arial Beel Wetland Soils of Bangladesh

The actual quantity of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stored in wetlands can only be estimated within a broad range of uncertainty. An accurate assessment of the size and distribution of the SOC storages in wetland resources is very difficult to obtain, therefore, the proposed research objective is to measure SOC storage and its pool on wetland soils of Arial beel in Bangladesh. Initial results of Arial beel soil profiles indicates SOC concentrations are high in surface soils ranges from 1.67 to 1.95% but its concentrations are decreasing with depth whereas SOC stock in kg C m-2 is increased with depth due to increse soil bulk density with depth. However, carbon in deeper layers may be more stable than that in surface soils due to difference in source, composition and environmental conditions. Soil organic C stored in the three different locations of wetlands soils to 1 m depth such as 16.47, 18.27 and 17.22 kg C m-2, respectively with an average of 17.32 kg C m-2. On the other hand, SOC stored in upland soils to 1m depth such as 11.24 kg C m-2, significantly less than the wetland soils, which indicates that wetland soils serve as a major source of SOC. However, this SOC act as a conditioner to enhance fertility status while combating with climatic extremes, not only that it is a vital component of soil with important effects on the functioning of terrestial ecosystems. For SOC pool, different extraction methods are used such as, highly labile fraction of SOC extracted with hot water (about 3-8% of toal SOC), water soluble fraction of SOC extracted with water (about 1% of total SOC), labile fraction is extracted using CaCl2 (about 1% of total SOC), moderately labile fraction extracted by pyrophosphate (about 4-10% of total SOC), polyaromatic SOC is extracted using toluene + methanol (trace amount of total SOC), microbial biomass C extracted by K2SO4 (about 2-5%) and the resistant fraction remaining after extraction. However, the SOC concentration is high in surface layer but with depth concentration decreases. In addition, soil bulk density and thickness values increase with depth, as a result deeper layers stored more carbon than surface layer in Arial beel soils. There is increasing evidence from the results that wetlands have an important and under-estimated role in carbon storage and its pool the regualation of greenhouse gas emission. Some types of wetlands play a particularly key role as C stores, these include forested wetlands and vegetated inter-tidal wetlands and hence, Sundarban mangrove forest and Tengarchar SOC stocks and pools measurement are an urgent issue for the Climate Change researchers and policy makers.

The taming of the wilderness: marshes as an economic resource in 3rd millennium BC Southern Mesopotamia

The marshy environment of Southern Sumer in the 3rd millennium BC surely had an impact on the local economy that can be sought for in the written sources. The perception of marshes was however twofold: as a prosperous environment in literary compositions and as a place to be tamed for regular, state-controlled exploitation in royal inscriptions. The great majority of attestations of marshes in economic documents refer to field names, thus, probably referring to agricultural units in drained marsh areas. On the other hand, typical marsh resources, such as reeds, fish and fowl, are widely attested in the economic documentation from 3rd millennium BC, although we can rely on very little information as to their provenance. To conclude, both literary and economic texts give hints for an interpretation of the professional figure known as ‘enku(d/r)’, usually interpreted as ‘tax-collector’ or ‘inspector of the fishery’, as an official connected with the management of wetland resources.

Analysis of Level and Extent of Anthropogenic Activities in and Around Protected Areas (PAs): Case of Baturiya Wetlands, Jigawa State Nigeria

Wetlands are transitional points of habitats that are normally situated between a water body, vegetation cover and dry land. Human activities and climate change influence, the net loss of natural features in global wetlands. However, in the earlier 1990s, people began to understand the benefit of wetlands. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the level of anthropogenic activity in and around Baturiya wetlands and also to provide information on the extent of exploitation on Baturiya wetland. A questionnaire was designed and administered according to the objectives of the study. The result shows that a majority of the anthropogenic activity was conducted by men within the age range of 21-50 years. About 92.5% of the respondents are aware of the effect of the serial disturbances on vegetation resources. The exploitation was mainly for the massive use of energy, income generation, medicinal use and constructional materials. There is a strong need from the management and stakeholders to formulate a deliberate strategy for the provision of an alternative source of energy, health facilities, and a systematic awareness through training to the local communities around the Protected Areas (PAs) on wetland values, sustainable use of wetland resources and conservation strategies.

Geo-Spatial Analysis of Urban Wetlands Loss in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

Urban wetlands make cities livable in many important ways. They reduce flooding, replenish drinking water, filter waste, provide urban green spaces, and are a source of livelihoods in most urban areas. This study aims to geo-spatially analyze urban wetland loss in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA), Rivers State, Nigeria. The study analyses land use /land cover changes (LULC) using Landsat7 UTM images of 2000, 2009 and 2018. The satellite images covering the area were acquired and analyzed using ArcGIS10.6. A total area of 25,773.39 sq km was delineated in the study area. After processing the imagery, five LULC classes where developed in ArcGIS environment, such as wetland, built-up area, vegetation, water bodies and bare surface. The study shows that the urban land-use of Obio-Akpor LGA had changed dramatically during the period of 18 years. In 2000, wetlands occupied the second-lowest classes with 9.12% (2352.15 sq.km) of the total classes due to high level of urban development in the area while built-up areas occupied the third-highest classes with 17.62% (4543.83 sq.km) of the total classes. In 2009, the study revealed that the built-up area (urban land use) rose to 19.3% (4975.11 sq.km) and maintained an increase in urban growth due to changes from constructions of many roads and houses while wetlands also surprisingly experienced an increase and occupied the third-highest classes with 19.17% (4942.26 sq.km). Evidence from the study show that 2018 witnessed an expansion in terms of developmental activities in all facets as the built-up area increased in three-fold size within the year, bare surface reduced to a class of 15.47% (4057.29 sq.km) forcing developers to develop towards the wetland ecosystem. The wetlands, therefore, experienced a sharp decline to 4.91% (1266.75 sq.km) due to rapid conversion of wetlands for housing development and excessive urban sprawl and its associated problems of inefficient use of land, urban space and the development of shanty towns/slums. The study concluded that there is a need for the wise use of wetland resources and improvement of institutional arrangement so that wetland policies can be fully integrated into the planning process across all disciplines.

The unseen transboundary commons that matter for Cambodia's inland fisheries: Changing sediment flows in the Mekong hydrological flood pulse

This paper focuses on the ‘the unseen transboundary commons’ of residues, nutrients and mobile matter associated with the annual flood pulse that support Cambodia's inland fisheries. We develop the idea of biophysical geopolitics concentrating on political‐socio‐natures rather than the purely biophysical. In the context of multiple mega‐projects in the Basin, we argue the flood pulse has become increasingly compromised, which is an urgent socio‐ecological security issue facing the Mekong region. Scores of livelihoods are dependent on the hydrological flood pulse via the reproduction of the inland fisheries, and a diversity of wetlands resources. Our paper builds on cross‐comparative research focusing on a geo‐strategic mouth of the Tonle Sap (Chhnok Tru) and a transborder area along the Mekong main‐stream (Stung Treng, Cambodia – Champasak, Laos area). By viewing biophysical matter as becoming trans‐border geopolitical matter, we wish to emphasise the critical socio‐ecological character of the hydrological flood pulse, and the urgency of cumulative spatial and temporal changes affecting diverse wetlands communities. Loss of wild capture fisheries and the more unpredictable flows of the Mekong are signs of an emergent and dangerous era of increasing environmental insecurity.