Agricultural and Biological Research

Developing indicators for wetlands conservat on using DPSIR framework: A systematic review in Ethiopia

Bealemlay Abebe Melake*, Salie Mulat Endalew, Tamagnu Sintie Alamirew

Wetlands are responsible for providing provisioning, regulatory, supporting, and cultural services. Due to many challenges, wetlands have become severely degraded. The understanding of wetlands and their values is inadequate. There is no evidence indicating the development of indicators for wetlands conservation. This study's purpose was to emphasize the importance of integrating the DPSIR framework with some developed environmental indicators for wetlands conservation. A total of 135 papers were collected using web-based search engines. The DPSIR framework analysis of Ethiopian wetlands degradation is being carried out using scientific knowledge and documented literature. In Ethiopia, besides of high cost of intervention on degraded wetlands, the issue has gotten less attention; no quick and one-off solution to alleviate these problems, there is little or lack of research, community awareness, knowledge of planners and resource managers and policy gaps. The local community's involvement in wetlands conservation is limited. To develop some important and applicable indicators based on the collected data, the application of the DPSIR model was quite essential. Based on professional experience and literature review, some steps were used for developing some relevant indicators for sustainable wetlands conservation. Some applicable components of the conceptual framework were used as DPSIR indicators. The conceptual framework was designed to enable an understanding of the causal relationships between driving forces and socioeconomic impacts. Baseline information from the developed DPSIR indicators can be utilized to guide management actions in implementing short or long-term responses to conservation measures.