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World Water Week: the FFEM publishes a new guide on freshwater ecosystems
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The FFEM has published a new guide on freshwater ecosystems to further extend its series on marine ecosystems. With mounting pressure around water resources, this publication on eutrophisation and cyanobacteria phenomena consolidates current knowledge and addresses the threats and pressures facing these ecosystems.
Surface freshwater that can be readily accessed by humans and animals makes up a mere 1% of total freshwater, and is very unevenly distributed.
In addition, eutrophisation of surface waters on the African continent is accelerating under the cumulative impact of demographic growth and its associated anthropic pollution, compounded by the climate change which threatens further exacerbation. A direct consequence of the eutrophisation of environments, the proliferation of cyanobacteria presents a real threat to the populations drinking this water.
The objective of this guide is to summarise available knowledge regarding a very frequent type of surface ecosystem pollution: nutrient pollution, particularly from phosphorus and nitrogen, which is far less recognised than that from pesticides or microplastics. This volume also aims to guide communities, operators and decision-makers in how to monitor bodies of water used for drinking water production.
This work has been produced as part of the WaSAf project (Monitoring and management of surface water sources in Africa), supported by the FFEM in partnership with the Agence française de développement (AFD) and coordinated by the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (iEES Paris).
