Check out this important paper co-authored by King’s staff members Dr. Emma Tebbs and Dr Kristofer Chan on one of the most rapidly changing river basins in the world.
Short video of Dr. Emma Tebbs discussing the project background, scope and findings. Watch here.
What They Looked At
Africa’s dry regions are undergoing rapid environmental and social change. In response, many large-scale development interventions like hydropower are more and more common.
These projects aim to reduce poverty, but some worry focusing on this aspect alone disguises other trade-offs to environmental quality, indigenous food production, and livelihoods.
Tebbs and Chan, along with J. Hodbod and S. Sharma, explored these trade-offs by studying the case of the Gibe III dam project in the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia.
What They Found
Through participatory mapping and satellite remote sensing, the team discovered the Gibe III dam:
- was responsible for reductions in wetland, grassland and shrubland;
- increases in bare ground;
- an overall decline in ecosystem service value of the landscape;
- and increases in indigenous food insecurity.
Why It Matters
In line with sustainable development goals, intervention projects like the Gibe III dam may help reduce poverty at the national scale. However, this research demonstrates how they also can cause negative impacts locally not taken into account.
These findings highlight the importance of local participation in development plans and emphasise the urgent need for policies focused on reducing environmental degradation.
Where You Can Read It
Luckily, this paper is available open-access by clicking here. Please check out the team’s work and share it with anyone and everyone you know whose research interests intersect or might find it interesting.
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