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Climate variability and change has led to multifaceted stresses and compounded socio-environmental problems. Using the example of Simiyu wetlands in Tanzania, this article analyses the complexity and inter-connectedness of climate-related mal-adaptation and coping strategies and their implications. Various study methods were used, including consultative meetings, stakeholders workshops, a literature review, household questionnaires and land use cover and change analysis. Reactive coping and adaptation strategies have resulted in increased risks to livelihoods and the environment. Responses to climate variability and change in the study are complex, leading to amplified chain reactions. Extreme weather events, particularly droughts, have led people and herds of livestock to migrate into the wetlands. Environmental degradation is alarming. More than 42 per cent of natural vegetation in the study area has been wiped out in a span of 15 years. As a result, poor people whose livelihoods derive from the wetlands have suffered. The present institutional arrangements have failed to integrate the community's coping and adaptation strategies into wetlands management. Emerging conflicts among wetland users are intensifying environmental and community risks. This article emphasizes that, in a changing climate, wetlands need to be managed through flexible institutional and management frameworks that cross sectoral boundaries and involve all affected parties.
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to to Anglophone Africa Writeshop, organized jointly by SEI, ISDR and UNU in Accra, Ghana, for inspiring me to write this article. In particular, I would like to thank the coordinator of the Writeshop, Dr Lisa Schipper, Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), for her tireless efforts and support, from the preparation all the way to the finalization of the Writeshop. She is really kind and provided such a sisterly care and concern. From SEI also I would like to thank Nipa Laithong (Ms), an Administrative Assistant (SEI), who kept steady and constant updates and correspondence with regard to the Writeshop.
The Writeshop would have not been complete without the kind and considerate facilitation from our facilitators: Elias Takor Ayuk (UNU-INRA), Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic (UDS), Katharine Vincente (Kulima), Tracy Cull (Kulima), Justin Ginnetti (ISDR) and Lisa Schipper (SEI). They all made sacrifice, support and encouragement that went beyond my expectation.
In a special way, I would like to thank my own mentor Dr Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic (from UDS, Ghana) for her personal sacrifice in terms of time and effort and support that helped me complete this article successfully. She really went out of her way to assist me. I cannot find ample words to appreciate her kind support and efforts. Thanks a lot.
My appreciation and acknowledgement will not be complete without recognizing the role of my fellow Writeshop participants in making a successful Writeshop and eventually this article. Thank you very much.
I wish to also appreciate the contribution and assistance of my employer, the University of Dodoma, Tanzania for finding time and other resources to enable me to attend the Writeshop.
Lastly but not least, I thank my family members for their understanding and support towards the accomplishment of this article.
Many people contributed their time, effort and ideas towards completing this article. To all those who had contributed in one way or another, I thank you all.