A synthesis of past, current and future research for protection and management of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) wetlands in Africa

摘要

Papyrus wetlands (dominated by the giantsedge Cyperus papyrus L.) occur throughout eastern,central and southern Africa and are important forbiodiversity, for water quality and quantity regulationand for the livelihoods of millions of people. To drawattention to the importance of papyrus wetlands, aspecial session entitled ‘‘The ecology of livelihoods inpapyrus wetlands’’ was organized at the 9th INTECOLWetlands Conference in Orlando, Florida in June2012. Papers from the session, combined with additionalcontributions, were collected in a special issueof Wetlands Ecology and Management. The currentpaper reviews ecological and hydrological characteristicsof papyrus wetlands, summarizes their ecosystemservices and sustainable use, provides anoverview of papyrus research to date, and looks atpolicy development for papyrus wetlands. Based onthis review, the paper provides a synthesis of researchand policy priorities for papyrus wetlands and introducesthe contributions in the special issue. Mainconclusions are that (1) there is a need for betterestimates of the area covered by papyrus wetlands.Limited evidence suggests that the loss of papyruswetlands is rapid in some areas; (2) there is a need for abetter understanding and modelling of the regulatingservices of papyrus wetlands to support trade-offanalysis and improve economic valuation; (3) researchon papyrus wetlands should include assessment of allecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, habitat,cultural) so that trade-offs can be determined as thebasis for sustainable management strategies (‘wiseuse’); (4) more research on the governance, institutionaland socio-economic aspects of papyrus wetlandsis needed to assist African governments indealing with the challenges of conserving wetlands inthe face of growing food security needs and climatechange. The papers in the special issue address anumber of these issues.