The nexus between drivers of wetland utilisation patterns, land use/land cover change and ecosystem services in two wetlands, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study assesses the nexus between the drivers of wetland utilisation patterns, land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) and the current status of provisioning and cultural services in Driefontein and Intunjambili wetlands, Zimbabwe. A total of 280 household questionnaires were administered together with semi-structured interviews conducted with key informants in the two wetlands. Qualitative data were analysed using the content analysis method whereas descriptive and inferential statistics were used for quantitative data. LULCC was assessed using Landsat and Sentinel data for the years 1999, 2009 and 2019. Supervised classification was performed using the Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) algorithm in ArcMap 10.5. Eighty-six percent of Driefontein and 75% of Intunjambili households indicated that wetland use for horticulture farming was the predominant activity, but for different reasons in the two areas. In Intunjambili wetland, horticultural farming was mainly for subsistence use due to the prevailing semi-arid conditions. This was different from Driefontein, where market availability for horticultural produce was the major factor behind commercialised wetland use. Results of the LULCC analysis showed an increase in the spatial extent of the cultivated area in the two wetland areas, at the expense of vegetation and water and some of the associated ecosystem services. The studied wetlands provide cultural services since they are used as sites for research and academic excursions. The variations in the anthropogenic drivers of wetland use in Driefontein and Intunjambili show that location-specific wetland studies are important to inform appropriate wetland scale utilisation and management policies and strategies that result in the maintenance of ecosystem services.

Keywords:

• cultivation
• ecosystem services
• household economy
• livelihoods
• wetland utilisation

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors declare that this is their own work and has not been sent for publication elsewhere. The authors also declare no conflict of interests in this research.

ETHICS APPROVAL

Ethical issues were an important aspect of this research, since they ensured that confidentiality and consent were upheld. Ethical clearance was sought from the Midlands State University, to grant permission to carry out the survey. Permission to enter the study areas was sought from the Rural District Authorities through a cover letter presenting the detailed aim and objectives of the study.

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

All households included in this study gave written informed consent to participate in this research. If the household head was not available, the eldest family member capable of making decisions participated in the survey.

CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION

All households provided informed consent to publish the data contained within this article.

AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIAL

The data sets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. All data produced from this study are provided.

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of a study funded by the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Services for Transboundary Basins of Southern Africa (WeMAST) Project funded under the GMES and Africa programme.