Wetlands - be they mighty river systems and deltas or peatland swamps - were on the agenda at a conference attended by international delegates.

The focus was on how wetlands could help alleviate poverty and how South Africa dealt with the problem through its Working for Wetlands projects.

Increasingly, though, these fragile sources of water are under threat as more and more impoverished rural people rely on them for a living.

To gain an impression of the problems other countries encountered, the Sunday Tribune spoke to several delegates, from a variety of conservation and development aid agencies. 

Forest fires raging in Indonesia often leave a pall of smoke over parts of south-east Asia.

Alue Dohong, a site co-ordinator for Wetlands International in Kalimantan, mentioned constant felling of millions of trees, draining of the peat swamps, and the construction of a gigantic system of canals. Trees had been wiped out in order to accommodate rice paddies, "but rice doesn't grow on peat", said Dohong.

Wetlands International is using locals to construct tabats, a traditional canal blocking system, using hardwood timbers. Aquatic plants are then planted on top of the tabats.

Wetlands International's Marcel Silvius said a very effective poverty-reduction measure in Indonesia had proved to be micro-loans to communities. In exchange the community planted trees; and in due course the loans became grants.

Kerala, in south India, is one of the most populated parts of the country. According to Dr Erinjery James, of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, 75 percent of the population depends on open wells for their drinking water.

"With about 1 030 people per square kilometre, it is almost impossible to maintain the required 15m distance between wells," said James. As a consequence frightening levels of ecoli had been recorded. "Seventy-five percent of our wells are contaminated."

Traditionally medicinal herbs were added to drinking and cooking water; and the wood from the gooseberry tree used in constructing the wells, also absorbed pollutants.

Village communities were now taking responsibility for their own welfare, using the ancient Panchayat Raj system, said James.

In Ethiopia, Afework Hailu, of the Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association, said theirs was the first NGO to specialise in the sustainable management of wetlands and forests.

They had used a demonstration plot on the shores of Lake Tana to show the benefits.

"Instead of growing rice, then chickpeas, then grazing their cattle, we try to persuade them to grow just one crop, then rest the wetland. We also tell them to use the catchment area first, rather than the wetland."

The Niger delta is infamous for the problems posed by petroleum and mining exploration companies.

However, Ousmane Diallo, of the Niger Basin Authority, which comprises Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, C™te d'Ivoire, Guinea, Cameroon and Chad, said the inner delta, an area of about 30 000 square kilometres faced over-fishing, pollution, and invasive species.

Pointing to one of the negative effects of Egypt's Aswan dam, research scientist, Dr Wahid Moufaddal said the Nile River was no longer depositing such rich nutrient sediments in the delta. Farmers were using more artificial fertilisers, and fish stocks, especially sardines, were being depleted; erosion was setting in.

While developmental aid agencies were not heavily represented at the conference, they felt that with their experience on the ground, they had much to offer conservationists.

Mention was made that in Vietnam work was being done with local communities to re-establish mangrove swamps, which helped to act as a buffer against typhoons.

The Mekong, with the world's largest fresh water fisheries (two million tons of fish realising $2 billion annually) is under onslaught, as a result of China's developing dams. Dr Richard Friend of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) said farmers living along the banks of the river in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia established market gardens in the low season on the nutrient rich soil dumped by the Mekong.

They also relied on frogs, snails, and shrimps to supplement their rice crops, and farmed fish in their rice paddies. "Their livelihoods are fragile. We must sit down to find out how best to meet the needs of all," said Friend.

The conference called for greater co-operation between government, NGOs, and those living in or near wetlands. This partnership should, inter alia:

• recognise the important role of healthy wetlands in poverty reduction;
• empower socially and economically excluded stakeholders to share in planning and decision making with regard to their wetlands; and
• improve access to funding for the poor through small-scale schemes that support alternative livelihoods as incentives that enable wetlands to be managed sustainably. 

This article was originally published on page 11 of Tribune on February 05, 2006