ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to help highlight the negative impacts of economic
activities on wetlands in East Africa with a specific focus on Mara Bay and
Masirori wetlands, Tanzania, a region where the local communities still harness
wetland resources for economic sustenance. Key economic activities and
the negative impacts of the income-generating activities on the wetlands are
identified, including the main goods harnessed, level of dependency of the
locals to the wetlands, and the level of environmental knowledge of the locals
on the wetlands’ ecosystem services. Both qualitative and quantitative tools
and techniques viz.: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, market surveys
and spreadsheet analysis were used in this study. The proportion of wetland
users involved in papyrus harvesting, food crop cultivation and fishing
was 30%, 25% and 24%, respectively while charcoal/firewood and grass for livestock
accounted for 12% and 7%, respectively. Significant differences in incomes
for charcoal (p < 0.05) across the four villages were recorded but farming,
fishing, mat making, herding and fish mongering were non-significant.
About 6% of those interviewed had some considerable knowledge on wetland
ecosystem services, while the rest (94%) lacked information. Issues identified
as having detrimental impacts on the wetlands’ ecosystem services included
conversion of sections of the wetlands into farmlands, grazing, charcoal
burning, unsustainable fishing, overharvesting of papyrus and brick-making.
Farming was found to be a major income-generating activity within the two
wetlands. Other important economic activities were charcoal burning, fishing,
mat making and fish mongering. The findings from the research are useful
for devising appropriate strategies for wetland conservation. Such measures
may include assigning wetland ecologists to the village governments,
valuation of the wetlands, commissioning of a price and resource regulatory board for the wetland goods, creation of wetlands monitoring program, a
fining regime system and a roll-out of mass environmental education in the
wetlands regions.