Ecosystem services, challenges of water bodies, a problem linked to climate change. A latent issue in Ethiopia

Abstract

Lakes, rivers, and wetlands support livelihoods by providing numerous ecosystem services. They play crucial roles in human societies in drinking water provisioning, food production (via fisheries, aquaculture, and irrigation of agricultural lands), recreation, energy provision (via hydropower dams), wastewater treatment, and flood and drought control. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the challenges facing the ecosystem services of Ethiopian water bodies. Freshwater lakes pro-vide diverse consumptive and non-consumptive ecosystem services to people, such as water supply, fisheries, recreation, and natural enjoyment. Wetland systems provide humans with both intermediate and final ecosystem services, such as provisioning services (e.g., freshwater provision), regulating services (e.g., water purification, flood regulation, climatic regulation), supporting services (e.g., habitat for wildlife), and cultural services (e.g., recreation). Challenges include flow alteration, water pollution, destruction or degradation of natural habitats, invasive alien species, and climate change.