BUGENYI, F.W.B.

Department of Zoology,Makerere University,P.O Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.

Lake Victoria Basin Wetlands deserve more management attention than they have had so far

The fundamental objective of the "Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme, LVEMP" has been to restore a healthy, varied lake ecosystem that is inherently stable and that can support, in a sustainable way, the many human activities in the catchment areas and on the lake itself. The area between these two ecosystems, comprising of a wetland zone or an ecotone plays an important role in regulating the flow of materials from and to either of the above ecosystems.

It is well known that in Africa in general, and East Africa in particular, the wetlands surrounding and covering rivers, floodplains and lakes have often been looked at as places that might provide resources to overcome the diverse and serious challenges of poverty and hunger among the people. There are many (over 20) extractive goods and services (resources) of, both direct and indirect, benefits which accrue from these wetlands. These goods and services are provided by the wetlands and they concern all the raw materials and physical products which are used directly for production, consumption and sale including those providing energy, shelter, foods, agricultural production, water supply, transport and recreation. Many people depend on these resources for a livelihood. These wetlands therefore, are "valuable" or they have "benefits" and consequently, their resources need to be used wisely and sustainably. The indirect use benefits of wetlands concern ecological functions, which maintain and protect natural and human systems through services such as maintenance of water quality, flow and storage, flood control and storm protection, nutrient retention and micro-climate stabilization, and the production and consumption activities they support.

One of the management techniques to be applied is to allocate (after careful cost-benefit analysis procedures) a "value" to these wetlands before taking any development option. This will help in deciding management approaches for the wetlands/wetland classes in the five so-called "Pilot Areas" in Uganda. The "value of all wetlands goods and services" in these areas is large, and is estimated to provide annual benefits in the order of U.Shs 100,000 million per year or US$ 55.6 million. This value comprises the benefits of typical wetlands goods and services as well as those of the non-typical ones (like Agricultural cropping, livestock grazing, fishing etc.). This amount equals an estimated value of U.Shs 63,000 million against economic prices.

Knowledge is scanty and yet is needed on the functions, products and attributes of wetland ecosystems in order to be used for the "wetland management" whose goal should be "to make the best of the benefits offered by nature", rather than transform or eradicate nature. When understood in that spirit, wetland management should seek to make optimal use of the specific characteristics of an area and its potential for sustainable development and the maintenance of biological diversity.