Browsing by Author "Masolwa, Petro"
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Item Climate Change Impacts, Local Knowledge and Coping Strategies in the Great Ruaha River Catchment Area, Tanzania(Scientific Research, 2011-12) Kangalawe, Richard Y. M.; Mwakalila, Shadrack; Masolwa, PetroClimate change has profound implications for managing freshwater resources and species dependent on those resources. Water is an essential component of the life support system of the earth, and a basic resource for socio-economic development. The Great Ruaha River Catchment Area is a dynamic and complex ecosystem requiring inclusion climate change adaptation in the management of the freshwater and natural resources available to reduce the severity of climate change impacts. Rainfall has decreased considerably during the last 10 - 30 years, and characterised by high interannual variability, seasonal shifts and variable seasonal distribution with unpredictable onset and ending of rains and shortened growing seasons. Temperature has increased considerably during this period causing increased evapotranspiration losses and incidences of pest and diseases. The freshwater of Ruaha River and it tributaries are vulneable to changing climate, such as drought, which can negatively impact on the livelihoods of the people through de- creased crop and livestock production, and on local biodiversity. The changing climate has had negative impacts on, among other aspects, land use and water shortages for irrigation, livestock and domestic uses. This has compelled riparian communities in the catchment to devises coping strategies including practicing irrigation to provide supplementary water to crops, using drought tolerant crop varieties, rationing of irrigation water in farmlands, wetland cultivation, and diversification to non-agricultural activities. Despite the existence of many indicators used for local climate forecasting, there are limitations to local adaptation, including among others, poverty, institutional aspects and limited integration of climate adaptation in various sectors. The bulk of indigenous knowledge could be integrated into formal adaptation planning, and may be important components of environmental conservation at the local level.Item Climate Change Impacts, Local Knowledge and Coping Strategies in the Great Ruaha River Catchment Area, Tanzania(2011) Kangalawe, Richard; Mwakalila, Shadrack; Masolwa, PetroClimate change has profound implications for managing freshwater resources and species dependent on those resources. Water is an essential component of the life support system of the earth, and a basic resource for socio-economic development. The Great Ruaha River Catchment Area is a dynamic and complex ecosystem requiring inclusion climate change adaptation in the management of the freshwater and natural resources available to reduce the severity of climate change impacts. Rainfall has decreased considerably during the last 10 - 30 years, and characterised by high interannual variability, seasonal shifts and variable seasonal distribution with unpredictable onset and ending of rains and shortened growing seasons. Temperature has increased considerably during this period causing increased evapotranspiration losses and incidences of pest and diseases. The freshwater of Ruaha River and it tributaries are vulnerable to changing climate, such as drought, which can negatively impact on the livelihoods of the people through decreased crop and livestock production, and on local biodiversity. The changing climate has had negative impacts on, among other aspects, land use and water shortages for irrigation, livestock and domestic uses. This has compelled riparian communities in the catchment to devises coping strategies including practicing irrigation to provide supplementary water to crops, using drought tolerant crop varieties, rationing of irrigation water in farmlands, wetland cultivation, and diversification to non-agricultural activities. Despite the existence of many indicators used for local climate forecasting, there are limitations to local adaptation, including among others, poverty, institutional aspects and limited integration of climate adaptation in various sectors. The bulk of indigenous knowledge could be integrated into formal adaptation planning, and may be important components of environmental conservation at the local level.Item Environmental Flow Assessment of Great Ruaha River in Southwestern Part of Tanzania(David Publishing, 2011) Mwakalila, Shadrack; Masolwa, PetroEnvironmental Flow Assessments (EFAs) are becoming the global standard for determining the amount of water required to sustain aquatic ecosystems and sustain socio-economic development. EFAs comprise structured, science-based approaches to determine how much water must be left in the river to protect the aquatic ecosystems and achieve the desired ecological state. The building block methodology (BBM) that was used in this study is designed to identify a series of important flows (the building blocks) which will together provide the essential aspects of the natural hydrological regime that ensure the persistence of as much of the biodiversity as possible. The results show that a total inflow into eastern wetland of 5.52-6.81 m3 /s is required in order to sustain an outflow of 1-2 m3 /s past Ng’iriama and hence meet the “minimum” recommended flow rates further downstream at BBM1 and BBM2 during the drought low flow conditions. The rationale being that a satisfactory flow during drought low flow conditions will guarantee sufficient flows during low flow periods in normal and wet years. The low flows of 2.5 m3 /s and 19 m3 /s are recommended for the driest and wettest months, respectively.