The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in southern Africa

Biodiversity within inland water ecosystems in southern Africa is highly diverse and of great importance to livelihoods and economies, however, development activities are not always compatible with the conservation of this diversity and it is poorly represented in the development planning process. One of the main reasons is a lack of readily available information on the status and distribution of inland water taxa. In response to this need for information, the IUCN Species Programme, in collaboration with the South Africa Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) conducted a regional assessment of 1,279 taxa of freshwater fishes, molluscs, odonates, crabs, and selected families of aquatic plants from across southern Africa. In the process of the study, which is based on the collation and analysis of existing information, regional experts from five of these countries were trained in biodiversity assessment methods, including application of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and species mapping using GIS software. Distribution ranges have been mapped for the majority of species so providing an important tool for application to the conservation and development planning processes. The full dataset is made freely available through distribution on CD and through the IUCN Red List website.