Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
MANAGEMENT: CONSERVATION,
RESTORATION AND CREATION OF
WETLANDS
Box 20.4
Conversion of natural floodplain to
agricultural land, northern Nigeria
Despite efforts by the states of Borno, Kano and
Bauchi, northern Nigeria, to conserve the natural
floodplain of the Hadejia River system, agricultural and
economic policies are driving conversion to agricultural
land. In response to falling oil prices and the need to
save hard currency, the federal government banned all
wheat imports from January 1987. At the same time, a
50 per cent subsidy was offered on fertilisers and
equipment for wheat cultivation, while the producer
price for domestic wheat rose by 1000 per cent
between 1986 and 1989. By the 1988-9 growing
season in Kano alone, 30,000 ha had been converted
for wheat cultivation. While this wheat boom will
generate a profit for individual farmers, the benefits will
be short-lived. The sandy soils are predicted to degrade
rapidly under irrigated wheat cultivation, thus
compromising long-term options for rural development
in the region.
Historical analysis reveals a long relationship
between communities and wetlands throughout
civilisation. For example:
•
Conflict arose in the seventeenth century over
the draining of Hatfield Chase, England,
resulting in violence to the Dutch engineers
and their workers (Purseglove 1988).
•
The Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq have built
up a complete way of life based on wetland
conservation (Thesiger 1964); evidence has
been found of the restoration of systems that
used silt deposited in floodplains that had
been destroyed by unusually heavy flooding.
•
Medieval excavations of peat for fuel
undertaken in various parts of Europe created
what have become important wetland sites,
such as the Norfolk Broads (George 1992).
Source:
Kimmage1991.
Such integration is required beyond the wetland
site itself in the form of planning and management
of the catchment or coastal zone within which
the wetland lies. For example, productivity in most
wetlands depends upon the flow of water and
nutrients into them. Consideration should also be
given to the downstream benefits of wetland
conservation such as flood control and
maintenance of water quality, emphasising further
the central role that wetlands can play in regulating
the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. In
addition to researching into institutional change,
human geographers need to explore the
accompanying need for the development of
appropriate policies.
National economic and agricultural policies
frequently determine the rate at which wetlands are
lost. For example, artificially high prices paid for a
crop such as winter wheat, available under the
Common Agricultural Policy until the early 1990s,
made it profitable to drain lowland wet grazing
meadows (see also Box 20.4). The rapid rise in
demand for land for urban and industrial
development generates an economic momentum,
which renders invalid many conservation arguments
based upon the multiple values of these natural
Many traditional societies have developed
complex systems to regulate access to resources.
These can in many instances provide the basis for
multiple use under today's conditions. Yet where
control over all natural resources is vested in
agencies of central government, often based
hundreds of kilometres away, such locally based
management is often severely hampered. In
designing and establishing planning and
management frameworks for sustainable
conservation and use of wetland resources, special
care needs to be taken to ensure that these are
pursued within an appropriate institutional or
government policy (Box 20.4).
Only rarely are the main components of a
wetland managed in an effectively integrated
manner; rather, emphasis tends to be upon
maximising benefit from a single product. The
critical need today is to recognise the interlinkages
and benefits to be obtained from integrated
management of resources such as fish, trees, water
and wildlife. This introduces a new dimension to
wetland conservation, the requirement for
integration of institutions such as departments of
fisheries, forestry, water resources and tourism.
