Darwall, W.R.T.

This volume gives the most up-to-date information on the distributions and conservation status of species in all inland water ecosystems across mainland continental Africa and the reasons behind their declining status. This represents the most comprehensive assessment yet of freshwater biodiversity at the species level for an entire continent. For managers, this information will assist in designing and delivering targeted action to mitigate and minimise these threats.

For billions of people throughout the world – especially the poorest – wetlands are critical for livelihoods. Wetlands are also home to an enormous diversity of wildlife, much of it unique to freshwater habitats. Traditional separate biodiversity and livelihood assessment and economic valuation fails to present the full value of a wetland in the face of alternative wetland uses, and as a result wetlands are lost through development activities.

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.

Important Bird Areas and Important Plant Areas have already been identified in more than 170 countries. The Key Biodiversity Areas approach builds on the work done to date, in order to provide practical guidance to governments in identifying those sites which must be protected to ensure the future of both biodiversity and humanity.

Freshwater in the Mediterranean basin is of huge economic, environmental and livelihood importance. However, with a growing population and an increasing number of tourists, the freshwater resources are under great pressure. Since the threatened status of plants and animals is one of the most widely used indicators for assessing the condition of ecosystems and their biodiversity, an assessment was undertaken for freshwater fish in this region.

Biodiversity within inland water ecosystems in Eastern 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 the lack of readily available information on the status and distribution of inland water taxa.