The freshwater biodiversity of the five transboundary rivers of South Africa that feed the Kruger National Park (KNP) is under escalating threat from human activities, climate change, and invasive species. Although data indicate that river health is deteriorating in most of these rivers, this information is inadequately considered in status and compliance monitoring, planning, and action. The weak input of biodiversity knowledge into freshwater conservation practice is due, in part, to the lack of access to readily-available and ‘usable’ data for the area which is often discontinuous, intermittent, and in different formats. In the Lowveld region, there is a lack of access to biodiversity data as well as a lack of interpretive capacity. This region urgently needs a shared database for freshwater biodiversity data and the analytical capacity to consider data more systemically (across the catchments) and for potential impacts, i.e. “what if” scenarios.

This project will expand the Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) currently being developed by the Freshwater Research Centre for the Cape Floristic Region to include freshwater biodiversity data for all of the catchments of the Lowveld River flowing through KNP. The prototype Integrated Water Resources Decision Support System (InWaRDS) will also be further developed into a cross-platform system and integrated with the FBIS to support analysis of changes and trends. By including biodiversity and drivers of change (hydrology and water quality), water resources managers will have a powerful tool that supports monitoring, analysis, and sound decision-making.

1. Expand and promote the use of FBIS by collecting and consolidating existing KNP biodiversity data for inclusion in FBIS.
2. Enhance the systemic and analytical capacity of FBIS by developing an InWaRDS decision-support interface that can integrate with the FBIS.
3. Train users and partners in the new integrated FBIS/InWaRDS system.
4. Document and share the lessons learned.

With COVID-19 restricting travel and meeting with our grantees, JRS invited our projects to submit a short update for the JRS Board of Trustees. Though intended for an internal JRS audience, we loved these videos and share them here with permission. Enjoy!

1. An expanded FBIS populated with biodiversity data for the Lowveld River catchment.
2. The InWaRDS decision-support platform that fully integrates with biodiversity data in the FBIS.
3. Training modules for users of the new integrated system. A minimum of 20 people will receive FBIS-focused training and at least another 10 people will receive InWaRDS-focused training.
4. A training manual for use of the FBIS and the InWaRDS biological platform.

Key stakeholders and users from the national to the catchment level will be aware of the expansion and co-development of both the FBIS and InWaRDS systems. An estimated 20-30 people are expected to be using both the FBIS and InWaRDS to capture and analyze biodiversity data once the final InWaRDS interface is released to the public. The development of training materials ensures that resources are available to users beyond the project and the biodiversity data system is being used by partners on an ongoing basis. The improved capabilities of the FBIS gained through, a) the inclusion of freshwater biodiversity of the KNP region, and b) its incorporation into a systemic water resources protection and management system, will be used to track temporal and spatial changes and to asses impact of drivers on biodiversity.

Dr. Sharon Pollard has a PhD in freshwater ecology and is a specialist in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), water-related ecosystem services, and stakeholder participation. In addition to pioneering research and advocacy work around strategic adaptive management for water resources protection and water awareness in underprivileged areas in South Africa and beyond, she has managed many internationally recognized projects. Her special focus is on research, planning and acting systemically for meeting water requirements for sustaining ecosystems, and the involvement of stakeholders in IWRM. She is the Executive Director of the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD), an organization with a 20-year history of research and implementation in water resources protection and IWRM, particularly in transboundary rivers of South Africa and Mozambique.

The aspiration of private foundations like JRS is that our investments in technology and knowledge will be applicable and transferred to new contexts.  This grant to AWARD is such an instance where our prior investment in the Freshwater Research Center’s development of the Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) for the Cape Floristic Region is being transferred and enhanced by AWARD in the Lowerveld/Kruger region of South Africa.  We are also grateful to the support to AWARD in this area from USAID Southern Africa: Resilience in the Limpopo Basin (RESILIM Olifants). AWARD will add significant value to the FBIS by mobilizing new data, engaging new partners, and by adding decision-support modules.  Decision support is vital to increasing the value of biodiversity data to diverse stakeholders in ecosystem conservation and sustainable development.  The ‘scaling-out’ of the FBIS to other regions and new applications will also support continued software development that may lead to modules that are transferable to other nascent information systems in southern and eastern Africa.