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Wetland and Freshwater

To help ensure survival of many species of plants and animals, such as these hippopotamuses, USAID supports improved wetland and freshwater management.

Lakes and reservoirs hold more than 90 percent of the earth’s liquid, surface freshwater and provide numerous ecological, economic, and cultural values. Lakes provide critical habitat for fish, crustaceans, mollusks, turtles, amphibians, birds, mammals, insects and aquatic plants and support biodiversity of the surrounding land and wetlands. Most human communities that surround lakes depend heavily on lake biodiversity and natural lake processes for their water, food and way of life. Wetlands, the world’s most productive ecosystems, provide critical nursery, breeding and feeding grounds for many of the world’s fish and bird populations. They also provide important ecological services such as natural filtration, pollutant removal, flood control and groundwater recharge.

USAID supports projects in more than 25 countries that help to protect and conserve wetland and freshwater habitats. Activities include assessment of strategies for restoring the Tigris and Euphrates marshes in Iraq, freshwater fisheries surveys in the Philippines, and comprehensive watershed management in Morocco’s Souss-Massa basin. By protecting wetland and lake habitats, USAID helps conserve biodiversity, protect invaluable food resources and improve the availability of precious drinking water.

For a full text description, click here.

Unfortunately, the world’s lakes and wetlands are in crisis. Major threats include nutrient pollution, toxic contamination, water diversion, invasive plant and animal species, over-fishing, habitat alteration, acidification and climate change. Successful management is further complicated by the fact that many lakes and their associated watersheds cross international or other political boundaries, requiring unprecedented cooperation among numerous agencies and organizations to provide adequate protection to these precious resources.

USAID recognizes that healthy lakes and wetlands are central to biodiversity conservation, the continued availability of drinking water supplies and to sustainable development in many regions of the world. USAID supports activities that conserve these important habitats and the benefits they provide.

In the Philippines, for example, USAID is helping to establish community-based “river councils” to monitor water quality, raise awareness and support restoration efforts for Laguna de Bay, the Philippines’ largest lake. More than ten million people reside in the watershed surrounding the lake and intense industrial, community and agricultural development threaten Laguna de Bay’s water quality and fisheries, and its ability to meet the many competing water supply needs. After several years of struggle and conflict, a Laguna Lake Zoning and Management Plan is working to resolve conflicts and provide enhanced protection for lake resources.

Learn more about USAID’s work to protect water resources.

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