Indigenous Management of Wetlands: Experiences in Ethiopia

ID21 has written up a summary of research included in the book "Indigenous Management of Wetlands: Experiences in Ethiopia". Published by Ashgate in 2003 as part of the series King's SOAS Studies in Development Geography, this 260-page book indicates that wetlands are one of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, performing a variety of important ecological functions. Local communities depend on wetlands for many things; food, fodder for animals and water. People have managed wetlands sustainably for generations. However, planners have often seen wetlands as wasted land, which needs to be made economically productive. New management approaches that depend heavily on technology, together with environmental change, mean that many wetlands are now threatened.

"Local or indigenous knowledge develops over time from a detailed understanding of local environmental conditions, and is modified in response to changing conditions. It is a resource that can help development processes become more sustainable. This has not always been recognised and respected by all wetland stakeholders. The stability of wetlands has been undermined by development initiatives that ignore indigenous knowledge. While neither indigenous nor scientific knowledge alone can solve the problems of development, they can be complementary sources of wisdom in wetland management."

According to the author and this summary by ID21, wetlands in Ethiopia are at a critical point in their history, due to a new government policy that attempts to address the increasing food security problems. This policy has instructed farmers to intensify wetland agriculture and to start cultivating plots that are currently left to restore naturally (known as fallow plots). Both of these ideas disagree with local approaches to wetland management. Farmers have demonstrated that their indigenous hydrological management can be sustainable, but the government ultimately possesses the power to change the way that wetlands are managed.

The research suggests:

• Maintaining an effective network for sharing local knowledge and experimenting with new techniques should be a key principle of sustainable wetland management.
• Non-governmental organisations and donors should introduce reviews of varying local knowledge, to support these networks. For example, they could organise meetings between members of the wetland farming community to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different management techniques.
• Issues of sustainable hydrological management need to be discussed by each wetland community. Then they can be evaluated, adapted and refined to meet the needs of each unique wetland.
• Wetland management strategies need to include both external and indigenous knowledge.