Publication: Citizen Science for Bio-indication: Development of a Community-Based Index of Ecosystem Integrity for Assessing the Status of Afrotropical Riverine Ecosystems
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2021-01-07
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Frontiers in Water
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Abstract
The use of socioeconomic and cultural parameters in the assessment and biomonitoring
of ecological health of aquatic ecosystems is still in its nascent stages. Yet, degradation of
aquatic ecosystems has elicited concerns because of its bearing on social and economic
development of communities consisting of marginalized and vulnerable groups, as well
as the expenses and technical knowhow involved in biomonitoring approaches. In this
study we developed a Citizen-based Index of Ecological Integrity (CIEI) for assessing and
monitoring the ecological status of vulnerable African riverine ecosystems in Lake Victoria
Basin, Kenya. The hypothesis is that the citizen-led socioeconomic and cultural metrics
provides a more cost-effective broad view of ecosystems than other biomonitoring
methods in the assessment of water resources in the developing countries. Selected
rivers in the southern part of Lake Victoria (Rivers Kuja and Sondu-Mirui) recorded
the highest CIEI than their northern counterparts (Rivers Yala and Nzoia) that had
moderate to poor ecosystem integrities. The study demonstrates the usefulness of this
approach to elucidate the source of impairment, the extent of impacts and provide a
justifiable rationale to advice policy makers on developing guidelines for conservation and
management of aquatic ecosystems. We recommend for adoption and promotion of the
CIEI perspective in areas where such approaches appear defensible for the assessment
of catchment-wide practices in areas with robust indigenous knowledge to provide a
broad-view of the ecological health of the aquatic ecosystem.
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Keywords
citizen science, community-based monitoring, ecological integrity, water pollution, catchment management