Sakana, NaomiAlvarez, MiguelBecker, M.Boehme, BeateHanda, CollinsKamiri, WangechiLangensiepen, MatthiasMenz, GunterMisana, Salome B.Mogha, Neema G.Möseler, Bodo M.Mwita, Emiliana J.Oyieke, HelidaVan Wijk, Mark2016-06-022016-06-022011Sakané, N., Alvarez, M., Becker, M., Böhme, B., Handa, C., Kamiri, H.W., Langensiepen, M., Menz, G., Misana, S., Mogha, N.G. and Möseler, B.M., 2011. Classification, characterisation, and use of small wetlands in East Africa. Wetlands, 31(6), pp.1103-1116.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/2350Small wetlands in Kenya and Tanzania cover about 12 million ha and are increasingly converted for agricultural production. There is a need to provide guide-lines for their future protection or use, requiring their systematic classification and characterisation. Fifty-one wetlands were inventoried in 2008 in four contrasting sites, covering a surveyed total area of 484 km 2 . Each wetland was subdivided into sub-units of 0.5–458 ha based on the predominant land use. The biophysical and socio-economic attributes of the resulting 157 wetland sub-units were determined. The wetland sub-units were categorized using multivariate analyses into five major cluster groups. The main wetland categories comprised: (1) narrow permanent-ly flooded inland valleys that are largely unused; (2) wide permanently flooded inland valleys and highlands flood-plains under extensive use; (3) large inland valleys and lowland floodplains with seasonal flooding under medium use intensity; (4) completely drained wide inland valleys and highlands floodplains under intensive food crop production; and (5) narrow drained inland valleys under permanent horticultural production. The wetland types were associated with specific vegetation forms and soil attributes.enFloodplainInland valleyKenyaTanzaniaWetland typologyJournal Article, Peer Reviewed10.1007/s13157-011-0221-4