KENWEB in Tana and Loboi

KENYA WETLANDS
BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH
TEAM
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Team’s goal:
Wetlands conservation and management through
Multidisciplinary Biodiversity Research and Community
Participatory Assessments and Monitoring
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MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL TEAM
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MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
Programme coordination committee
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Wanja Dorothy Nyingi – Fish
Stephanie Duvail – Hydrology
Olivier Hamerlynck – Birds and fish
Mordecai Ogada – wetlands ecology & mammals
Judith Nyunja – wetlands managment
Nathan Gichuki – wetlands ecology and birds
Quentin Luke – plants
6 student associates at various stages: Bachelors
to PhD
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Objectives
• establish a methodology for a better description of
the Biodiversity values and of the various
ecosystem services
• inventory of the biodiversity, assess distribution of
species and analyse their conservation status.
• undertake simple hydrologic model to prospect
several scenarios related to flooding.
• Understand the water needs of wetland
ecosystems and users.
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Pilot Case Studies
• Coastal wetland - Tana River Delta
• Inland wetland - Loboi Swamp – Rift
Valley
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Why the Loboi swamp?
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All begun discover of this fish!
New subspecies of the Nile tilapia in a warm water
spring of Loboi Swamp
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Why was this fish not earlier discovered ?
This road did not
exist
Water is now more and more visible
Swamp reduced by
60% in last 30
years: Papyrus
harvest &
Irrigation
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Therefore, there is a need for urgent
biodiversity information on the fish and
other taxa for the purpose of
management of this wetland.
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Why the Tana Delta?
Kiambere
1988
Kindaruma
Kamburu 1968
Masinga 1975
1981
Gitaru
1978
5 dams in the upstream part; 6th the Grand Fall below
Kiambere
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High in Biodiversity
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Different from inland wetlands
Delta ecosystems are extremely diverse:
Floodplains
Lakes
Mangroves
Coastal forests
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Candidate for designation as a wetland of
international importance under the Ramsar
Convention
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Methodology
Data acquisition:
1. Comprehensive literature review
2. Multidisciplinary field trips
3. Observers’ networks composed of
members of the local community
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Synthesis and normalisation of the existing data
• Description of the ecosystem functioning,
fisheries database, biodiversity inventory
• Stakeholder identification and their resource
management practice
• Description of the political, economical and legal
context
• Identification of gaps in data for purposes of
planning objectives of field excursions
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Hydrological studies and Hydraulic modelling
• Develop a water balance model for Loboi swamp
• For the Tana delta the hydraulic models for the
floodplain and delta developed under the GEOPAR
project will be used.
• Data acquisition through stageboard installation
in collaboration with WRMA and local observers
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Biodiversity assessment
The objective of this task is to describe the
biodiversity values and services of a
functional wetland
• Field excusions of multi-discplinary team of
experts: Fish, mammals, amphibians and
reptiles, plants, birds ….
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Description of users’ strategies
• An identification of social groups and the social
dynamics
• A description of the natural resource use practices
and strategies
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Prospective analysis
Several water management scenarios will
be considered and their hydrological,
ecological, socio-economic impacts will
be modelled.
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Expected Outcomes
On research:
• Comprehensive scientific reference collection of
biodiversity
• descriptions of various new species and
biodiversity checklists.
• Describe ecosystem services and functioning of
wetlands
• Publication in international peer-reviewed
journals
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On methodology:
• Develop a rapid assessment tool kit for
tropical wetlands
• Contribute to improved linkages between
hydrodynamic modelling, Ecological and socioeconomical studies
• Capacity building in wetlands studies.
• Local observer networks
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On management:
• Management and conservation recommendations for
wetlands
• Highlight potential competition among land and
water users
• Awareness raising among communities and tools comanagement of wetlands.
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Recent Milestones and upcoming
events
KENWEB membership to the International
Partnership of the Satoyama Initiative
approved – possible partners include CBD
secretariate
KENWEB also a member of the steering
committee of the IPSI
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Tana Delta multi-disciplinary field expedition
(May 2011 = team of 18 participants for 1 week
intensive sampling
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Primary and secondary school
programmes
• Guides visits for school students age 12
and above in the Tana Expo at Alliance
Francaise every Tuesday and Thursday
from 9th to 30th June.
• Involve Secondary School students in
Biodiversity research through participation
in fieldwork – August 2011
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Student’s training – Tertiary level
1. Nyange Mwadime - Bsc UoNbi – Botany Major 2. Laura Vanessa - Bsc Kenyatta University – GIS
3. Joseph Gathua - Msc. South London Banks
Univ – Conservation = Tana fishes
4. John Yumbya -Msc. (to be registered) – GIS
5. Titus Ndiwa - PhD – Université de Montpellier,
France –physiology and genetics = Loboi fishes
6. Chrystele Leauthaud - PhD –Paris tech = Plants
(Wetland pastoral resources in Tana)
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Celebrating the World Environment Day
Tana Delta Photo Exhibition – 7th to 30th June 2011
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Tana Delta Documentary
• Featuring participatory research by
KENWEB members
• To be launched in tandem with the Photo
exhibition 7th June 2011 at Alliance
Français, Nairobi
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