Definitions and Mapping of East African Wetlands: A Review

Abstract

Wetlands provide invaluable ecosystem services and contribute significantly to food security around the world. To maintain these functions, wetlands need to be protected from rapid transformation and overuse. Spatially-explicit information is required for sustainable wetland management. Development of wetland maps based on remote sensing requires a clear-cut definition of wetlands. This review was undertaken to improve the understanding of these habitats from a remote sensing perspective and to determine available wetland map layers for the East African countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. This study includes three components: (1) a review of the availability and types of wetland definitions from the scientific literature record (including 245 separate references); (2) a systematic analysis of land use/land cover classifications and the conceptual approaches and spatial coverages of wetland classes for each system; and (3) a depiction of wetland layers and a discussion of their suitability for use in regional inventories. Our literature review shows that a standard definition of wetlands is not in use, and a specific definition of wetlands is not given in more than 40% of the reviewed remote sensing publications. Spatial information on East African wetlands is currently insufficient for use in regional wetland management. OPEN ACCESS

The Challenges of Remote Monitoring of Wetlands

“…The value of all these large-area efforts to develop wetland-related products that are consistent across the landscape is underscored by Amler and colleagues [75], who detailed the difficulties encountered when trying to piece together data from multiple sources to monitor wetlands across East Africa. The authors documented the inconsistencies with which wetlands have been defined and mapped around the world and called for a common lexicon for use by practitioners of wetland mapping.…”

Sustainability in the Food-Water-Ecosystem Nexus: The Role of Land Use and Land Cover Change for Water Resources and Ecosystems in the Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania

“…At the catchment scale, information about LULCC is required especially when the focus is on studying the impact on related wetlands. Earth observation, however, is recognized as a means to provide consistent and comprehensive information to complement monitoring, management and ground-based knowledge [20][21][22].…”

Mapping and Monitoring the Akagera Wetland in Rwanda

“…Wetlands comprise areas of marsh, fen, peatland, or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salty, including areas of marine water; the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 m [1]. Wetlands have the potential to regionally increase food security by sustainably increasing food production and supporting the uncoupling of food supply from global market price fluctuations.…”