No Wetlands, No Water: the Road to Ramsar COP15. Why should it concern me?

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The following is a PowerPoint presentation by Julia Pierini, C.E.O. of BirdLife Zimbabwe to the Z.P.G.A. on Friday 16th May, at Armadale Lodge.

This bald outline of facts does not capture the passion with which Julia spoke about the extreme urgency with which we citizens of Zimbabwe must act, particularly in view of the fact that Zimbabwe is hosting the Ramsar COP15 in July 2025 with the world’s attention on wetlands in Zimbabwe at this moment. Julia was urging every one to galvanize all relevant local and national authorities to pay attention to the imminent disaster that is arising from the current rampant destruction of wetlands.

OUTLINE

1. Wetland ecosystems
2. Decline of wetlands in Harare
3. Implications

WETLANDS AND WATER GO TOGETHER

•Wetlands are determined by water
•Wetlands occur wherever water accumulates on or close to the soil surface, so that the presence of water acts as a primary determinant of ecological conditions
•Wetlands typically receive water from both surface and underground movement or flow of water
•Wetlands function to regulate the flow of water and to clean water

WETLANDS AND BIODIVERSITY

• Wetlands support high levels of biodiversity
• Harare’s dambo wetlands support:
  • Over 900 plant species
  • Over 250 bird species
• One of the reasons is that wetlands provide a great diversity of habitats relating to localized variations in the water regime
• Many wetland species are partially or entirely dependent on wetland conditions
• This biodiversity has evolved as part of the wetland ecosystem over very
  long time periods and forms an integral and key part of the wetland
  ecosystem

WETLANDS AS NATURAL WATER INFASTRUCTURE

• Healthy wetlands produce clean water
• Wetland plants and animals, together with the underlying soils and soil biota, including microbes, “work” on the water as it passes through to produce clean water
• Wetlands receive water, soak it up and retain it, and release it gradually to groundwater or as surface flow.
• In doing so this provides opportunity for:
  • Slowing the flow of water
  • Trapping silt
  • Breaking down pollutants
  • Recharge of groundwater
  • Extending the period of discharge of water to downstream environments

WETLANDS, WATER AND NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The presence of water creates the conditions for the formation of wetland ecosystems.
Wetlands provide the infrastructure that serves to collect, purify, and transmit clean water to downstream environments

WETLANDS AS ECOSYSTEMS

• Wetlands generally occur as continuous linear ecosystems rather than discrete isolated entities
• Wetlands are necessarily impacted by any changes of land use within upstream catchment areas
• Similarly wetlands have direct impacts to downstream environments
• It is important to approach wetland management within an ecosystem context that recognizes these interrelationships

WETLANDS IN HARARE

• Harare is situated on the upland plateau region within the interior of the continent, on the watershed between the Manyame and Mazowe Rivers
• The landscape comprises a series of gentle broad undulations comprising wetlands in the lower areas and woodlands on the intervening higher areas

DEVELOPMENT ON WETLANDS

• Historically urban development was targeted to the higher upland portions of the landscape
• Recent decades have been characterized by rapid growth and expansion, and growing demand for land.
• Coupled with a weak regulatory environment, and corruption, this has led to wetlands increasingly been targeted and allocated for development
• Over 50% of original extent of wetlands has been converted to development

50% LOSS DURING THE PERIOD 2008-2019

Sites of active development on wetlands in Harare, October 2021

IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT ON UPLANDS

Development on upland areas will lead to:

• More rapid runoff of rainfall
• Reduced infiltration to ground water
• Increased pollution loads
• This will modify the delivery of water to adjacent receiving wetland
  ecosystems
• Generally it will lead to a drier environment locally and for adjacent
  wetlands

IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT ON WETLANDS

Wetlands are the natural water infrastructure. Conversion of wetlands to development will have a much greater impact on the water system than the equivalent development on
upland areas. This is due to the additional loss of critical water services provided by
the wetlands:

• More rapid runoff
• More seasonal runoff
• Less trapping of silt
• Less purification of water
• Less infiltration of groundwater

OVERALL RESULT

• Increased risk of flooding in downstream areas
• More seasonal flow into downstream water supply dams
• Increased sediment levels in downstream flow
• Siltation of downstream water bodies
• Reduced water quality in water supply dams
• In short, less water with increased pollution

CLIMATE CHANGE IS LEADING TO A WARMER AND DRIER ENVIRONMENT

• Climate change is causing:
• A warmer environment
• Reduced rainfall
• Increased intensity of rainfall
• In general, climate change will enhance drying of the environment

HEALTHY WETLANDS REDUCE CLIMATE RISK AND IMPACTS

• Wetlands are extremely efficient at trapping and storing carbon such
  that they serve as important carbon sinks
• Wetlands provide local cooling of the environment
• Wetlands provide the water necessary to adapt to and mitigate the
  impacts of climate change

GOING FORWARD

• Business as usual will lead to escalating water problems, which will
  make the city a less attractive and more expensive place to live in
• The city needs to make a decisive policy shift toward the wise use of
  wetlands
• To retain the natural water infrastructure through protecting all
  remaining wetlands and restoring these to natural biodiversity.
• These same considerations apply throughout the country.

THANK YOU
“The sustainable future of Harare will depend on the maintenance and wise use of its wetlands”