Restoration of small lakes through cooperative management: A suitable strategy for poverty‐laden areas in developing countries?

Abstract

Lake Rupa is a small, subtropical, shallow lake with a surface area of 100 ha situated 600 m a.s.l. in Central Himalaya, Nepal. This degraded lake was studied between 2000 and 2006, with the goal of determining whether or not it could be restored by a community-based cooperative of local people living in its catchment. Main threats to the lake, its aquatic life and its very existence include encroachment by excessive aquatic vegetation, sedimentation, and low in-lake concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO). Small lakes (≤ 500 ha) are relatively prone to the process of 'succession and climax', although they also can be of social, environmental and ecological importance. Thus, their disappearance could spark social chaos and disorder in areas already having to cope with other rapid environmental changes. This means that credible mechanisms for revitalizing or protecting small lakes are an important goal. Accordingly, a lake cooperative of 329 households living in close vicinity to Lake Rupa was formed in 2002, by prioritizing traditional fishers, women and other deprived community members with the goals of respecting the citizenry and equity. Following the cooperative's campaigns directed at weed removal and fish stocking, encroachment of vegetation on the lake margins was halted, its aquatic weeds became under control, and its fisheries improved. In addition to the cooperative's restoration activities, several water quality parameters, including water transparency and DO and chlorophyll-a concentrations, were monitored on a monthly basis. The measured water transparency was inconsistent, exhibiting large variations between 2000 and 2003. Relatively low, but consistent, values, however, were measured after 2004. The results imply that the removal of weeds, and sufficient nutrients and solar radiation are subsequently available to the lake's phytoplankton communities. Supporting this notion is that the chlorophyll-a concentration spiked to 205 µg L -1 in November 2006, the water transparency became consistent, and the DO concentration increased to >3.8 mg L -1 during the critical months (March-May) after 2004. These water quality indicators indicated improvement in the degraded Lake Rupa, suggesting that the establishment of cooperatives such as that highlighted in this study could be a powerful and sustainable mechanism for restoring degraded lakes in similar socioeconomic settings by maintaining equity, by connecting communities with their resources, and by facilitating integrity, equity, citizenry and social justice.

Degradation of Lake Ziway, Ethiopia: A study of the environmental perceptions of school students

“…Citizen involvement is essential in broadening the conceptualization of the values of natural resources (i.e. lakes, wetlands, forests) and in implementing integrated management plans (Klessig ; Sheil & Liswanti ; Gurung ; Conrad & Daoust ; Romanelli et al . ).…”

“…Citizen involvement is essential in broadening the conceptualization of the values of natural resources (i.e. lakes, wetlands, forests) and in implementing integrated management plans (Klessig 2001;Sheil & Liswanti 2006;Gurung 2007;Conrad & Daoust 2008;Romanelli et al 2011). As part of this local citizen effort, school student's perceptions also should be considered important in dealing with the issues of conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources.…”

Native fish conservation in Nepal: Challenges and opportunities

“…Contribution of native fish to total production is declining worldwide, as most fishes have been over fished (Allan et al, 2005;Allen et al, 2010). Previously, many non-native fish for enhancing aquaculture; and protect native fish by diverting consumption to non-native species were encouraged (Gurung, 2007;Gozlan, 2008). For measuring what extent those strategies contributed to native fish conservation, detail scientific analysis might need to clarify.…”

“…Climate change, habitat loss, pollution, deforestation, siltation, intensive agriculture, littering, road construction, barrages, dam for irrigation, hydropower, sewage, removal of boulders and pebbles from river bed might cause water quality and quantity alterations. Thus, impacting fish habitat and fish decline in rivers, lakes and other water bodies (Gurung, 2007;Jha et al, 2007).…”

Stakeholder Analysis and Social-Biophysical Interdependencies for Common Pool Resource Management: La Brava Wetland (Argentina) as a Case Study

“…Local citizen partnerships are necessary to ensure broadbased planning and management of their water resources: to help resource managers avoid setting priorities on some needs and neglecting others. Citizen involvement is essential in broadening the conceptualization of wetland values and in implementing integrated management plans (Klessig 2001;Sheil and Liswanti 2006;Gurung 2007;Conrad and Daoust 2008).…”