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At Ramsar COP15 in Zimbabwe, delegates underscored the vital role of indigenous knowledge and local communities in wetland management.
The conference highlighted the need to integrate traditional practices with modern science to combat wetland degradation, especially in the face of climate change.
Participants from various African countries shared successful community-led conservation efforts, emphasizing grassroots contributions to sustainable wetland management.
Delegates to the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) that is taking place in Zimbabwe have emphasised the crucial role that local communities and their indigenous traditional knowledge systems play in global wetland management.
The participants that attended one of the conference’s key side events hosted by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) of Zimbabwe, emphasised the need to ensure that ongoing efforts to arrest the worrisome degradation of wetlands around the globe tap into the rich indigenous and traditional knowledge systems, a sentiment that is also shared by various researchers.
Zimbabwe is hosting the conference at a crucial time when the southern African region is grappling with the escalating effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity challenges, making wetland management one of the key intervention strategies.
The event drew participants from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Eswatini, among others, who also included traditional and local community leaders. Community members from successful sustainable wetlands management projects in various parts of Zimbabwe also attended, sharing invaluable indigenous knowledge and experiences that enriched the dialogue and emphasised grassroots contributions to wetland conservation.
Steady Kangata, EMA’s Environmental Management Services director, said going forward, it is important that there be a fusion of contemporary scientific system and indigenous technical knowledge systems to ensure effective wetlands management.
“We have things that we have been doing over time as various countries or as a people, why don’t we take those traditional and indigenous knowledge systems and fuse that with contemporary science?” Kangata challenged the delegates. “It’s all in a bid to protect our wetlands, to restore our wetlands, and we move forward in order to get the various benefits that we are supposed to get from these important and critical ecosystems.”
Sandra Ponde, a senior ecologist in the Department of National Parks and Wildlife in Zambia gave an example of the Liuwa National Park in western Zambia, which was designated a protected area by a local chief in the 1880s because of its significance to the livelihoods of the local Lozi community, as a shining example of the power of indigenous knowledge systems.
Patricia Mogomotsi, deputy permanent secretary with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Botswana, said in her country they have always managed their natural resources both formally and informally, so indigenous knowledge systems and local communities have always been recognised and respected.
Earlier in the week, the Africa Regional Group emphasised the need to uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in any efforts to designate wetlands as protected areas. The regional group called for the respect, recognition, and integration of indigenous and traditional knowledge systems in the governance and management of these ecosystems.
Wetlands provide key resources for rural livelihoods in communal landscapes and rural economies the world over. For the majority of communal farmers in Africa and other parts of the world, wetlands support diverse communal livelihoods. However, in recent years, these ecosystems have experienced diverse forms of degradation which, in turn, affects rural livelihoods. Given that wetlands are usually found in remote rural communities and only recently did some governments start taking interest in them, their continued existence is attributed to the role played by indigenous knowledge systems. Hence, the need to retain some of these time-tested practices.
Wetlands support diverse livelihoods such as gardening, crop farming, livestock grazing and fruit production. Experts say given the holistic, socio-cultural and environmental embedded nature of indigenous knowledge systems, it is worthy embracing local community environmental practices in fostering sustainable wetland management in this era marked by climate change.
“Results indicate merits of incorporating indigenous knowledge systems in wetland management,” said researchers in one Zimbabwean study published earlier in the year. “Indigenous knowledge embraces technical, institutional and religious spheres of wisdom. Reincarnation and restoration of these forms of wisdom seems to be sound ammunition of sustaining wetlands in a climate change epoch.”
Described as those interventions or techniques which integrate the objectives of development with the maintenance of wetland functions and values, researchers have found traditional wetland knowledge to be playing an important role in wetland management across Africa. For example, in northern Cameroon, a fish canal system has been developed to facilitate water movements between the river and the floodplain. This allows inundation of the floodplain and allows grazing even in dry years when flood levels are low. In Ethiopia, the system of wetland farming is based on farmers’ knowledge and experience of wetland hydrology, ecology, soil characteristics and the requirements of wetland crops. These farmers usually have detailed and accurate knowledge of the changes in water table height during the year. They are also aware of the spatial variability of the wetland water table.
In Burkina Faso, numerous permeable check dams have been built by villagers to increase agricultural production through increased moisture of the soil and increased water supply due to a rise in the water table and wells. In Rwanda raised beds for agri-pisci-culture have been implemented and have proved to be sustainable and effective. In Zimbabwe, the use of raised plots in vleis (headwater lowlands) is acknowledged as a traditional wetland utilization technique. The traditional knowledge institution of the Barotse in the Western Province of Zambia still prohibits cultivation of headwaters of rivers and streams to ensure all-year round stream flow and the protection of lagoons and fish breeding grounds. Research has shown that modern day failure to comply with the various traditional taboo systems has resulted in loss of agricultural lands, water bodies and other wetland benefits among many communities.
Meanwhile the seventh day of COP15 was devoted to a tour of the Kasibo Wetland Protection Project in Hwange, some 120 km from the Victoria Falls, the COP15 conference venue, which is one of the seven Ramsar Sites in Zimbabwe, to show delegates what the host country is doing in terms of wetland preservation.
Kasibo Wetland, one of the country’s flagship wetlands, is a living testament to community-led conservation and the profound connection between people and nature.
This evergreen ‘oasis’ in Kasibo has a rich history, dating back to 1965 when a hunting community first settled there, drawn by its abundance of game, wild fruits, and the magnificent, perennial spring. Revered as a sacred shrine, the community developed traditional taboos — from specific methods of water collection to prohibitions against cutting trees or cultivating upstream — all designed to protect this vital resource.
As the population grew, the community, led by traditional leaders, took proactive steps to preserve the wetland. The core source almost dried out due to human activity, prompting intervention by the community and the government.
Through partnerships with organisations like Catholic Development Commission (CADEC/CARITAS) and World Vision, now the spring is fenced, allowing its water to fill dams that flow into the Matetsi river and eventually the Zambezi, Africa’s fourth largest river.
Also established around the site are dams and a thriving nutrition garden under irrigation. The EMA has been instrumental, providing expert advice and introducing “modern taboos” like banning upstream cultivation and promoting contour ridges to prevent siltation.
The Kasibo Wetland, once a simple hunting ground, has blossomed into a model of sustainable living, supporting diverse wildlife (including reedbucks, otters, and various fish species) and enriching the lives of villagers through its spring, gardens, and beekeeping projects.
Zimbabwe, which has assumed the three-year presidency of the Ramsar Convention and is home to seven Ramsar Sites, has pledged to designate five additional sites by 2030 as well as restore 250,000 hectares of degraded wetlands, underpinning its commitment to global conservation efforts.