Facing the Facts: Assessing the Vulnerability of Africa's Water Resources to Environmental Change

Africa's high dependence on natural resources makes its people vulnerable to environmental change. Acknowledging this, UNEP and START initiated a study in Feb. 2003 - (Vulnerability of Water Resources to Environmental Change in Afica). In the publication 4 regional groups of researchers address the vulnerability issue in Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Africa by means of selected river/lake/groundwater,basins according to natural (physuigraphic) anthropogenic (socio-economic) and management criteria. The basin was selected as a key unit for assessment because it balances resource protection and utilisation and it considers all components of the hydrological cycle. Finally, the assessments undertaken clearly show that water resounces in Africa are at risk, now and even more in the future.