Work

Local ecological knowledge on the impacts of climate change and variability on riparian based ecosystem services in semi-arid parts of Zimbabwe

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Riparian ecosystems are faced which a variety of anthropogenic and climate change induced threats which undermine their ability to provide goods and services to sustain livelihoods. The main objective of this paper is to explore local ecological knowledge on the impacts of climate change and variability on riparian based ecosystem services in semi-arid parts of Zimbabwe. The research adopted a mixed approach involving participatory rural appraisal comprising ward level focus group discussions, key informant interviews, household questionnaire surveys and field observations. Three districts (Chiredzi, Mbire and Mwenezi) located in drought prone arid parts of the country were purposively selected for the study. Data were analysed using Excel and R software. Rainfall trend test results for the three districts show significant changes for the wet season months October (p=0.000), November (p=0.034), January (p=0.005) and February (p=0.001); and for the dry season months June (p=0.02) and July (p=0.035). Household respondents reported that they were mostly exposed to high risk from drought, prolonged dry spells and late rains across with subsequent decrease in river flow for the sampled rivers. The riparian zone has seen a remarkable decrease in provisional ecosystem goods and services over the past 5 years due to climate change, for instance fish from the river have decreased. Findings from cross tabulations indicated that a total of 363 (60%) females and indicated that there is high impact of provisional services in relation to climate hazards. On the other hand, Chi square results show that respondent’s knowledge on impacts of climate risks on provisional services is significantly influenced by gender (p = 0.01). Future work should focus on community participatory mapping and monitoring of ecosystem goods and services and ecological status of the riparian zone, with potential for restoration of the habitats.Keywords: climate change impacts, ecosystem services, adaptation, riparian, local ecological knowledge, semi-arid savannah

Source: Scientific African

DOI: 10.1016/j.sciaf.2024.e02513

Authors: Olga Laiza Kupika, Admire Chanyandura, Ruth Chinomona, Petros Mwera

Institutions: University of Botswana, Okavango Research Institute, Chinhoyi University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Land Use and Ecosystem Services

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Clean water and sanitation, Life on land

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $510