Invasive aquatic macrophytes in lake victoria such as water hyacinth have posed serious social, economic and ecological issues in the recent decades mailu, 2001. Pdf the decline of water hyacinth on lake victoria was. Gichuki et al water hyacinth succession in lake victoria. At the peak of the infestation in the late 1990s, data from albright et al. Kenya, tanzania, uganda lake victoria environmental management project english abstract. It commonly forms dense, interlocking mats due to its rapid reproductive rate and complex root. The negative social impacts of invasive weeds in lake victoria include inadequacy and difficulty in accessing clean water and water points. The decline of water hyacinth on lake victoria was due to biological control by neochitina spp article pdf available in aquatic botany 871. Canals and freshwater rivers can become impassable as they clog up with densely intertwined carpets of the weed. Lake victoria fish stocks and the effects of water hyacinth.
In 1989, the weed was spotted in the lake and seven. Pdf solarization of water hyacinth, eichhornia crassipes. The history of water hyacinth in africa aquarius systems. The species name crassipes is derived from latin, meaning thickfooted of thickstalked. The hyacinth has since spread prolifically, due to a lack of natural predators, an abundance of space, agreeable temperature conditions, and abundant nutrients, including increasing heavy metal pollution in the lake. Invasive aquatic macrophytes in lake victoria such as water hyacinth have posed serious social, economic and ecological issues in the recent. Impacts of water hyacinth and water quality change on.
Coverage of water hyacinth on lake victoria based on remote sensing data adapted from albright et al. Water scarcity and related environmental problems in parts. Removal of water hyacinth could take longer, expert says. Victoria was visibly affected, the killer weed water hyacinth eichhornia crassipes had been. However, understanding their spread and effects is hampered by the lack of reliable information. Solms is an invasive aquatic macrophyte associated with major negative economic and ecological impacts. Efforts to control water hyacinth in lake victoria and the upper kagera river of rwanda during the early 1990s were of limited success and were primarily directed at manually removing water hyacinth and conducting public awareness exercises. Water scarcity and related environmental problems in parts of. Effects of water hyacinth on water quality of winam gulf. Water hyacinth has been in africa, namely the river nile, since the 1870s but was not reported in lake victoria until 1989 although it is believed to have been.
Establishment, spread and impact of neochetina spp. Preliminary studies on the effects of water hyacinth on the diversity, abundance and ecology of the littoral fish fauna in lake victoria, uganda chapter aug 2019. Water hyacinths have dramatic effects on other activities such as. Pdf gichuki et al water hyacinth succession in lake victoria. Chapter 3 presents the water balance of the lake quantifying inputs, outputs and how they affect lake level changes. The rise and fall of water hyacinth in lake victoria and the kagera river basin, 19892001 article pdf available in journal of aquatic plant management 4242.
A tanzanian vessel stuck in water hyacinth in lake victoria at the port of kisumu on february 14. Richard and mclean 1963 reported that the analyses of plant materials for minerals generally ranged from 0. Pdf gichuki et al water hyacinth succession in lake. Lake victoria is drained solely by the nile river near jinja, uganda, on the lake s northern shore. A recent study used satellite images of lake victoria to estimate the coverage of water hyacinth on the tanzanian, ugandan and kenyan winam gulf sides of the lake figs. The lake victoria water hyacinth uon repository university of. Lessons for effective management of water hyacinth. Pdf there has been some debate recently about the cause of the decline of water hyacinth on lake victoria. Pdf the rise and fall of water hyacinth in lake victoria. Short communication the decline of water hyacinth on lake. Kenya, tanzania, uganda lake victoria environmental.
A regional project under the global environment facility gef is in the process of implementation which ensures a. Solarization of water hyacinth, eichhornia crassipes, on lake victoria. In an interview with kevin kawuki, a resident at gabba landing site, the green weed has no any noted positive importance for the case of uganda even when he believes that they. Available data on mat coverage was collected from a number of. Solms, is one of the worlds most prevalent invasive aquatic plants. Impacts of water hyacinth on lake victorias ecology and economy. This study advocates for an integrated water hyacinth management in the production of liquid organic fertilizer and handicrafts. Producing liquid organic fertilizer from water hyacinth. In order to study the effects of water hyacinth on water quality in the gulf, measurements of water properties were made in the northeastern corner of the gulf. The release of large amounts of untreated wastewater sewage and agricultural and industrial runoff directly into lake victoria over the past 30 years has greatly increased the nutrient levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the lake triggering massive growth of exotic water hyacinth, which colonised the lake in the late 1990s.
The authors estimated static and dynamic catch per unit of effort functions for lake victoria fisheries, investigating the trend in the lake s stocks during the period 1983 to 2000 and focusing particularly on the effect of the water hyacinth on fish stocks and on catchability coefficients. Ugandans, kenyans and tanzanians are all suffering as solutions are sought to manage the alien weed. Solms is an invasive aquatic macrophyte associated with major negative economic and. Water hyacinth an invasive species in lake victoria mosaic. With assistance from the european unionfunded lake victoria. Lake victoria, africaas largest fresh water body, is suffocating under water hyacinth, raising questions about the multi billionshilling project to eliminate it. The decline of water hyacinth on lake victoria was due to. Lake victoria is shared with tanzania and uganda, but on the kenyan side alone hyacinth covers around 17,000 hectares 42,000 acresroughly five. Individually, each country is making effort towards its elimination. Kenya warms to the water hyacinth as wonder source of.
The objectives of the lake victoria environmental management project are to. The government and the lake victoria environment programme lvemp phase two have been on the spotlight for failing to end the hyacinth menace despite receiving millions of shillings. Ethiopias lake tana is losing the fight to water hyacinth. Water hyacinth is effective in removing excess nutrients in a water body. A combination of mechanical, biological and herbicide methods are the best strategy in managing water hyacinth. It is also becoming a serious hazard to lake transport on lake victoria as large floating islands of water hyacinth form, while many of the inland waterways of south east asia have been all but. Managing water hyacinth the gbo requires a person to take reasonable and practical steps to minimise the risks posed by water hyacinth. With no natural insect opposition or environmental challenges, the plant has the opportunity to double its mass every five days in lake victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world.
The nakivubo channel of inner murchison bay, which. The consensus is that water hyacinth entered lake victoria from rwanda via the river kagera, probably in the 1980s. Impact of water hyacinth, eichhornia crassipes, lake victoria. According to sadc 1998a, there is overgrazing in more than half of southern africa. Pdf the decline of water hyacinth on lake victoria was due to. Origin of water hyacinth it is widely reported that water hyacinth is indigenous to brazil having been first described from wild plants collected from the fransico river in 1824 monsanto, 1996. The water hyacinth on lake victoria is a regional problem affecting the east african countries of kenya, tanzania and uganda. Solms, its socio economic effects, control measures and resurgence in the winam gulf. Fishing has been paralyzed due to inaccessibility especially in lake victoria, leading to losses in hundreds of millions of shillings in revenue. Advocates in uganda called on elaw to look into the safety of the chemicals and find information on the american company contracted to spray. An estimated 60 000 hectares is covered by the weed in kenya alone.
Although water hyacinth continues to cause serious disruptions in the use of water bodies in kenya, the government has not promptly moved to contain the spread of this weed. In the 1980s and 1990s, water hyacinth bloomed heavily on lake victoria, the nile, the congo and almost all watercourses of africa. The authors estimated static and dynamic catch per unit of effort functions for lake victoria fisheries, investigating the trend in the lakes stocks during the period 1983 to 2000 and focusing particularly on the effect of the water. But some farmers are harvesting the green gold for manure. Pdf the rise and fall of water hyacinth in lake victoria and the. Biogas production using water hyacinth eicchornia crassipes. Factors influencing water hyacinths and their spatio.
There is no instant fix, no magic pill, bug, chemical, machine, or technology that is going to make the problem go away quickly. Due to heavy infestation of water hyacinth in lake victoria catches of clarias gariepinus burchell and. Winam gulf is a large inlet from lake victoria that extends into kenya. Materials and methods the primary remote sensing task in this study was to discriminate water hyacinth from other image constituents, such. Factors influencing water hyacinths and their spatiotemporal. Originally from south america, water hyacinth, eichhornia crassipes mart. In lake victoria, this light level occurs for about 6 h around midday. Apr 26, 2017 it has brought challenges in access and navigation in affected water bodies despite the myriad of solutions introduced from clean up efforts to hyacinth eating insects which have all been in futility. Water hyacinth was found to selectively inhibit planktonic green algae in a shallow portuguese lake almeida et al. Invasive water hyacinth continues to choke lake victoria, africas largest fresh water lake. Water hyacinth was first reported on lake victora in 1989 twongo, 1991, and quickly spread around the lake margins.
Lake victoria, lying in tanzania, uganda and kenya, offers lessons for dealing with the water hyacinth problem. Until the local fishing industry in and around lake. Results show that water hyacinth is the genesis of macrophyte succession. This contracting project is the beginning of a solution. Jul 17, 2017 when talking about the water hyacinth on lake victoria,most people pay much attention on its negative effects than its positivities on the acquatic and even on the human. Water hyacinth, like many plants, are more effective with the presence of nitrogen and phosphate, and as a result, are more successful at germination perex et al.
It will absorb nutrient than the body can utilize wolverton and mcdonald, 1976 and that is why the leaves are always very luxurious in a rich water body. In the midlate 1990s, management to combat water hyacinth. Soil erosion livestock rearing in catchment areas can contribute to soil erosion. Neochetina weevils requires a prior use of mechanical and chemical control for it to be effective. On establishment, water hyacinth mats are first invaded by native emergent macrophytes, ipomoea aquatica forsk. Such an example is the out competing of the native pistia stratiotes in lake victoria masifwa et al. Increasingly the water balance of the lake is serving management objectives that can affect riparian uses around lake victoria. In our study, each dataset was linearly interpolated between sample dates, and the resulting trends were summed to give a picture of how lakewide water hyacinth populations. The purpose of this paper is to create and discuss a measure of water hyacinth abundance in lake victoria.
Turning menacing hyacinth into manure dw english youtube. A freefloating aquatic plant with waxy leaves and violet flowers, the south american water hyacinth was first spotted in africa in the late 1980s. Aug 11, 2014 a freefloating aquatic plant with waxy leaves and violet flowers, the south american water hyacinth was first spotted in africa in the late 1980s. Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as water hyacinth, is an aquatic fresh water plant native to the amazon basin and naturalized in the tropical and subtropical countries of south america penfound and earle, 1948, global invasive species database, 2006. It caused a popular crisis in south africa in the 1910s, madagascar in the 1920s, tanzania, uganda and kenya in the 1930s through the 1970s. Yasuyoshi chibaafpgetty images outside keitas home on the shores of lake victoria, piles of cleared water hyacinth left to rot were a common. On lake victoria, a green stain spreads across africas. There is no instant fix, no magic pill, bug, chemical, machine, or technology that is.
Kenya warms to the water hyacinth as wonder source of biofuel. The fastspreading weed has paralysed fishing in the lake, affecting over four million people who. The exact time and place of introduction has been debated, but the plant is native to south america so it appears to have. The trends in the distribution and cover of mobile water hyacinth in the uganda portion of lake victoria are illustrated in tab.
Gitonga abstract the kenya agricultural research institute imported 12,300 curculionid weevils neochetina spp. Estimates made in april 1999 and in august 1999 indicated that the input of water hyacinth into lake victoria through the river kagera was 3. No ones sure how the south american water hyacinth invaded africas lake victoria but theres little doubt as to the damages it has caused. Jun 22, 2017 invasive water hyacinth continues to choke lake victoria, africas largest fresh water lake. Aug 27, 2019 the lake is covered by water hyacinth. Water hyacinth water hyacinth, eichhornia crassipes, is a floating plant an invasive nuisance planta, non grata in much of the world where it often jams rivers and lakes with tons of floating plant matter 4. When talking about the water hyacinth on lake victoria,most people pay much attention on its negative effects than its positivities on the acquatic and even on the human. Water hyacinth has become a major invasive plant species in lake victoria and while it is native to the continent of south america, human activity has introduced the greenery to lake victoria, where it is claimed to have negatively affected local ecosystems history. These problems are more pronounced in malawi, south africa, tanzania, zambia and zimbabwe sadc, 1998a.