Development of a wetlands’ health index using benthic macroinvertebrates and fish in South western Uganda

Description

Wetlands are undergoing rapid degradation with negative consequences for aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services and goods derived from therein.

In south western Uganda, because of the high population density, the rate of wetland loss is much higher than in other parts of the country. Several policies and regulations such as the National Wetlands Policy, 1995 and the National Environment (Wetlands, River Banks and Lake Shores Management) Regulations, No. 3/2000 have been enacted to protect and promote wise use of wetlands in Uganda. However, the policies and regulations do not stipulate methods for assessing wetland health or condition so as to evaluate the effectiveness of control actions and restoration activities.

The proposed project therefore intends to develop a standard protocol and metrics premised on biological assessment methods to help assess and monitor wetland condition in south western Uganda.  The study will employ the Reference Condition Approach (RCA) proposed by Bailey et al 2004. The RCA measures the variability in biota among sites in ‘Reference Condition’. These reference sites are minimally exposed to human stressors such as effluent discharges or land use changes that often degrade ecosystems. The RCA then uses empirical modeling to explain as much of the variability in the biota of reference sites as possible, based on the environmental characteristics of the sites (Bailey et al 2004). The resulting model then predicts the biota that could be expected at a test site, were the site in Reference Condition. In contrast to the reference sites, the test site is exposed in some degree to stressors, and it is the effect of the stressors on the biota that is of interest in the assessment.

Participants

    • Aventino Kasangaki
    • Richard Twinamatsiko