A Review on Ecosystem Services and their Threats in the Conservation of Nyando Wetland, Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Wetlands are vital ecosystems as they are essential to human health, wellbeing, ecological integrityand national development as well as in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.However, despite their contributions to human wellbeing, they have been destroyed and degradedover years. The aim of this paper is to review literature on the ecosystem services in Nyandowetland ecosystem and how they have been helpful to the well-being of its residents and also todetermine the threats to the Nyando ecosystem services. A total of 88 documents were reviewedout of 20,400 documents from the Google engine search. It is concluded in this paper thatecosystem services in the Nyando wetland contribute significantly to the sustenance of thelivelihood of the local communities and that the over dependency on the Nyando wetland by thelocal communities has resulted to over-exploitation of its resources leading to the degradation ofthe ecosystem. It is recommended that since the Nyando ecosystem is of high value to thecommunities living there, sustainable utilization of its resources is important for its sustenance andalso in the reduction of the degradation of its resources. Keywords: Wetlands; ecosystem services; livelihoods; sustainability; conservation