DEVELOPING WETLAND INVENTORIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA - A REVIEW

The status of wetland inventory effort and availability of maps and ot her data sources is reviewed for the ten countries of southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The aims and strategies for inventory are discussed and the main survey methods compared. Prior to commissi oning new inventory work, careful collation of existing maps and image ry is recommended together with targeting of strategic inventory at Pr ovince level, reserving high resolution effort only for certain import ant sites.