According to the Ramsar Convention, wetlands form part of the landscape that encompass vitally important water resources and as such are subject to protection through legislation and international policies and best practice standards. The “Introduction to Wetlands and the Assessment of their Ecological Condition and Ecosystem Services” course aimed to equip practitioners, managers, decision-makers, researchers, and students with the fundamental wetland skills and knowledge. 

The course covered the essential concepts and basic principles of:

• The drivers of wetland ecological condition (hydrology, geomorphology, water quality and vegetation);

• Wetland identification and classification;

• Wetland ecosystem services;

• Available wetland ecological condition assessment tools (the WET-Health  and miniWET-Health citizen science tool);

• A brief introduction to wetland rehabilitation concepts; and

• GIS skills for wetland assessments

The course was designed to equip participants with practical skills to identify wetland vegetation and undertake a wetland health assessment, as well as give participants an introduction to mapping catchments and wetland boundaries using available imagery and the open source QGIS program. Participants also gained exposure to hydrogeomorphic (HGM) wetland types, and learnt about the fundamental principles of the delineation of wetlands and soil identification.

The course comprised a fieldtrip, a series of lectures and tutorials (practical sessions) including the following modules:

• What are wetlands? A friendly introduction to the principles of wetland hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation relationships.

• Wetland classification – this module introduces the participant to how wetlands are classified by Ramsar and will focus primarily on inland wetland classification. This classification includes unpacking the hydrogeomorphic setting of the wetland as well as some aspects their dominant biodiversity traits. 

• Wetland ecosystem services – this module will introduce the participant to the concept of assessing the services that wetlands provide.

• Wetland degradation – this module establishes the concepts of how a wetland can be impacted. 

• Wetland integrity assessment – This module includes an introduction to the Level 1A Wet-Health Assessment, providing both practical skills to assess wetland integrity, as well as the ecological theory. 

• Wetland rehabilitation – this module includes a high-level summary of some of the core concepts of wetland rehabilitation, as well as some practical examples in Africa by presenting some case studies.

• QGIS for wetland assessment purposes – this module will assist in the development of some basic GIS skills for wetland assessments, including two in-depth tutorials that cover the set-up and initiation of a GIS project and the basic mapping needed to assess a wetland. 

Pre-course assignment

This pre-course assignment is light (~6 hours) and designed to prepare the participant for the training course as well as allow the trainers to tailor the course to the participants and their knowledge level. This includes some reading tasks and an assignment, which will be sent out the week before the course starts. This should take about 4 hours. 

Day 1

During the first day, the theoretical modules will be covered by a series of lectures with linked tutorials (practical sessions). These lectures include an introduction to wetlands and their delineation, an introduction to wetland classification and an introduction to wetland assessment. Each lecture is accompanied by a practical assignment, which will build on the pre-course assignment. The trainers will be on hand during the practical sessions to assist with these assignments.

Day 2

The second day of the course will incorporate an in-field practical, allowing the participants to put into practice the concepts that they engaged with on the first day. This will include a demonstration of the process of wetland delineation, wetland vegetation identification and data collection protocols for wetland ecological condition assessments. The field day will also include detailed discussions, sharing and learning between the trainers and the participants, and among participants, thus creating an opportunity for networking and strengthening the community of practice in the region.

Day 3

The third day will focus on undertaking an assessment of the wetland that was visited on the field trip day. This will include detailed tutorials of the GIS processes required for the assessment, and tutorials and discussions about the assessment spreadsheet and how it works. A short lecture introducing wetland rehabilitation concepts and case studies will be presented. A brief about the post-course assignment will be given. 

Post-course assignment

This will need to be completed in order to receive the certificate of competence for the wetlands course (~8 hours).

Time required for the course

To complete the workload for this course you will need to dedicate the full three days to the lectures and coursework; and additional time to complete your final assignment (estimated at +/- 8 hours), which will be based on the field trip. An additional 2 hours is required for the pre-course assignment and at least another 4 hours is recommended to read through some of the materials provided as part of the course.

Materials provided

PDF versions of each of the following:

• Wet-Roadmap Manual

• A Practical Field Procedure for Identification and Delineation of Wetlands and Riparian Areas

• Wet-Ecoservices Manual

• Wet-Health Manual

• Wet-Origins Manual

• A series of relevant and important scientific publications, manuals and toolkits.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete this course receive a certificate of completion. This course is certified by the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP).

This course was almost fully sponsored by SWS-Africa. This was the cost for each participant to attend:

Registration Deadline Price (USD) Price (Naira)

Early bird 31 Aug 2024 $180.00 ₦270,000.00

Late registration 30 Sep 2024 $220.00 ₦330,000.00

This covered the following: 

• Digital course notes

• Supporting documents and materials for practical assignments

• Digital copies of selected guidelines and tools and other material

• Lunches and Teas for three days (breakfast and dinner not included!)

• The fieldtrip

• Assessment and certificate