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Analytical Overview
The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and IUCN - estimated the location and extent of the wetlands in Africa. A group of experts delineated wetlands boundaries by generalizing information on inundated areas, rivers, lakes, and topography from the 1:1 million Operational Navigation Charts. This map provides more detail than other global, coarse resolution data sets that use potential vegetation, soils, and terrain to delineate wetlands. However, because of its scale, it underestimates wetlands extent, particularly seasonal wetlands, flooded forests, and wetlands in valley bottoms, such as dambos ("valley meadowlands" in southern Africa), which are important for agricultural production, food security, and habitat. Dams were digitized by the Land and Water Division at FAO based on the ICOLD 1998. Dams were placed to the nearest city, unless information on the latitude/longitude for the dam was available.


Wetlands, Dams, and Ramsar Sites in Africa

Map Projection

Lambert Equal-Area-Azimuthal Central Meridian 20, Reference Latitude 5

Map Description

This map is the best regional approximation of wetlands in Africa. It also shows Ramsar sites, and as a proxy variable, location of dams, to indicate the potential of changed hydrological regimes. Ramsar sites are areas designated as important wetlands under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention). Of the Ramsar sites mapped, 6 have been listed in the Montreux Record, a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance that includes places where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution, or other human interference (Ramsar Convention Website: http://ramsar.org/key_montreux_record.htm).
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Citation:
World Resources Institute - PAGE, 2000
Sources:
  1. WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). 1996, Biodiversity Map Library.Cambridge, UK:WCMC.
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 1999, Data on location of dams for Africa provided to WRI for PAGE Analysis. Rome, Italy:FAO.
  3. Ramsar Convention Website.
    Available On-line at: Source Link.Viewed 7/14/00.