Increasing pressure is being brought to bear on African wetland ecosystems. Many have been destroyed or degraded in recent times, and it seems likely that many more will be damaged within the next few years. Conservation action has been hampered to date by the lack of a complete review of the conservation status of African Wetlands. This book provides such a review and describes the important wetland systems of each of the 47 African countries, providing a basis for both further research and conservation planning. Within each section, physical, biological and human characteristics of wetland systems and each important wetland are described.