Economics, Trade and Incentive Measures

 
Submission
ID 27807
 
Main Information
Title Barotse Floodplain, Zambia: local economic dependence on wetland resources
Description This IUCN case study describes an attempt to articulate the economic value of one of the Zambezi’s largest wetland complexes, the Barotse Floodplain in western Zambia. It formed a component of a project concerned with wetland conservation, with field sites in Malawi’s Lower Shire Wetlands, the Zambezi Delta in Mozambique and the Eastern Caprivi Wetlands in Namibia, as well as the Barotse Floodplain itself. A particular focus of the study, and of the project more generally, was to assess the value of local level wetland resource use by wetland communities. A major motivation for this was that in the Zambezi Basin, the ecological and economic value of wetlands to rural communities is not fully appreciated when river basin planning is undertaken or when land and water management decisions are made. As a result, such decisions often interfere with wetlands of local economic importance, thereby impacting heavily on the communities who live beside them.
Web Link /doc/case-studies/inc/cs-inc-iucn-12-en.pdf
 
Additional Information
Authors Lucy Emerton
Source Study by IUCN
Countries Zambia
Ecosystems Inland Waters Biodiversity
Regions Africa
Incentive Measures Economic Valuation
Keywords Wetlands ecosystems
Water resources
Change in productivity
Wildlife trade