GNF - Living Lakes Network
 

Living Lakes – The international Network

 

The main purpose of this international initiative is the conservation and protection of natural resources, chiefly the drinking water reservoirs of the earth. UN investigations say that today about 2.2 billion people suffer from water shortages or bad water quality.

 Living Lakes
 

Overview about all Lakes and Wetlands of the Living Lakes Network

 
 

Lake Ossa – Cameroon

 

Background Lake Ossa

Lake Ossa is one of the largest lakes in Cameroon, with a surface area of about 4,000 ha. It is located approximately 50 km inland from the Gulf of Guinea and about 12 km west of the city Edea. The morphology of the lake is very complex, and can be subdivided into four main parts. The maximum width of the shallow lake is 7 km, while the maximum depth is 7 m during the rainy season. The lake is connected to the River Sanaga (the largest and longuest river of the country) by a 3 km longmeandering channel. The river discharge rate controls the water level and the water characteristics of the lake.

 

The apparent color and Secchi depth of the lake vary with location and season. In the southeast, water is opaque and has a brown, muddy color due to the influence of the Sanaga River during the rainy season. Water in the north and west has a better visibility with a dark apparent color caused by its black muddy bottom.

 

Lake Ossa is also a habitat for many wildlife species including manatees, freshwater turtles, crocodiles, monitor lizards, snakes and many aquatic birds species. The African manatee, the most charismatic species of the lake feed mainly on macrophyte beds. The availability of macrophytes is strongly dependent on water levels of the lake.

 

More than 50 species of emergent macrophytes dominate the aquatic vegetation. Antelope grass (Echinochloa pyramidalis) is the most dominant macrophyte followed by seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) and bia (Sclerosperma manii). The terrestrial and island forests aredominated by two species: Lophira alata (a tree also known as Azobé or red ironwood) and Saccoglottis gabonensis (bitter back tree). The natural forest was largely reduced by agro-industry operations that occupy the largest proportion of the reserve to grow rubber plants (Hevea sp.) and oil palm (Elaeis guneensis). These agricultural practices have adverse impacts on the drainage basin downstream from the lake, which is exposed to erosion and landslides. The rest of the land is used by the local population for subsistence agriculture through seasonally farmed plantain (Musa spp), cassava (Manihot esculenta), taro (Colocasia esculenta), etc.

 

Although the limnology of Lake Ossa is still largely unknown, it is clear that the lake is an important habitat for over 18 families of fish, dominated by Cichlidae and Mormyridae. Fish is the main protein source for the couple of thousand people who live around the lake (local population around the lake). About 400 fishermen are actively fishing in lake Ossa using a variety of fishing techniques including gillnets, purse seines and Chinese bamboo traps. Fishermen have noticed a drastic ‘’generational’’ decrease in fish stocks as many reported that their parents harvested a higher amount and larger sized fish with very little effort, compared to the present. Although no empirical study has been conducted so far, the reports from fishermen are an indication that the fishing industry of Lake Ossa has become unsustainable, as a result of  increased fishing effort and/or decreased habitat quality.

 Three manatee noses in Lake Ossa
 Eutrophication of Lake Ossa
 Deforestation at Lake Ossa
 Vegetation at the shoreline
 
 

Project goals Lake Ossa

Lake Ossa represents 90 % of the Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve which was established in 1968. The protected area  needs an efficient management plan to ensure proper use of natural resources and to mitigate the main threats posed by overfishing, poaching, bycath, deforestation, erosion, sedimentation and eutrophication.

 
 

 

Partner Organisation Lake Ossa

 

 

African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation (AMMCO)
Aristide Takoukam
Beach, Dizangue/Edea, Littoral, Cameroon
Po. Box 908 Edea, Cameroon
Phone: +237 679360673
E-mail: akamla@ammco.org
Website: www.ammco.org

 African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation (AMMCO)
 

The Living Lakes Network – Saving the Lakes and Wetlands of the World

 
 

Living Lakes strives for effective protection of water in the most important lake areas around the world - A world-wide future-oriented initiative! At the moment, 113 members belong to the network. Further information about each lake or wetland you find under the lists for each continent.

Our Mission

Living Lakes is an international network and partnership whose mission is to enhance the protection, restoration and rehabilitation of lakes, wetlands, other freshwater bodies of the world and their catchment areas.

Our Vision

All lakes, wetlands and freshwater bodies of the world should be healthy ecosystems and where they are used by human kind that use should be sustainable and not damaging to the environment.

Objectives

  • Conserving the biodiversity and the preservation of fresh water resources, lakes and wetland ecosystems.
  • Restoring altered and disappearing wetlands and lake ecosystems. 
  • Improving the quality of life for the local communities (Agenda 21).
  • Building a commitment towards a sustainable use and development of these ecosystems (for example, through agriculture, fishery, tourism, settlement and water use).
  • Promoting the use of applied sciences and technologies towards the conservation of these ecosystems.
  • Supporting educational programs and cooperation with local communities towards the conservation of the biodiversity of these ecosystems.
  • Disseminating information relevant to these ecosystems.
 Sailing Boats at the Broads in England
 Riverine vegetation in Sri Lanka
 Lake Hovsgol in Mongolia
 

Success

Distinction as “Official Project of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005 – 2014”

In November 2013, the project “Living Lakes” has received for the fifth time the distinction as official UN Decade Project for the year 2014. The first distinction occured for the years 2006 and 2007.

 
 Logo UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005 – 2014