Definitions and Mapping of East African Wetlands: A Review

• Main Authors: Esther Amler, Michael Schmidt, Gunter Menz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-04-01
• Series: Remote Sensing
• Subjects: wetland mapping; wetland definitions; land use/land cover classifications; East Africa
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/7/5/5256

Wetlands provide invaluable ecosystem services and contribute significantly to food security around the world. To maintain these functions, wetlands need to be protected from rapid transformation and overuse. Spatially-explicit information is required for sustainable wetland management. Development of wetland maps based on remote sensing requires a clear-cut definition of wetlands. This review was undertaken to improve the understanding of these habitats from a remote sensing perspective and to determine available wetland map layers for the East African countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. This study includes three components: (1) a review of the availability and types of wetland definitions from the scientific literature record (including 245 separate references); (2) a systematic analysis of land use/land cover classifications and the conceptual approaches and spatial coverages of wetland classes for each system; and (3) a depiction of wetland layers and a discussion of their suitability for use in regional inventories. Our literature review shows that a standard definition of wetlands is not in use, and a specific definition of wetlands is not given in more than 40% of the reviewed remote sensing publications. Spatial information on East African wetlands is currently insufficient for use in regional wetland management.