Governance Index for Prioritisation of Afrotropical Inland Lakes for Conservation and Sustainability

Abstract

Existing scientific methods can be combined with insights on the socio-ecological landscape of Afrotropical lakes to provide better policy options for stakeholders and to develop more efficient resource management strategies. Using integrated African resource and ecosystem maps and an approach for the developed Governance Index for Prioritisation (GIP) of Lake Victoria resources, our study highlights prospects for adopting the GIP methodology to increase understanding and management of Afrotropical lakes. The use of GIP is recommended for adoption and promotion in areas where such approaches appear defensible for the assessment of lake-wide practices, and in areas with robust indigenous knowledge to provide a broad view of the ecological health of the Afrotropical ecosystem.