Seventy-six percent of the freshwater species in East Africa’s Lake Victoria Basin, including a number of plants and animals important to local livelihoods, are threatened with extinction, according to a MacArthur-supported report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Freshwater species such as fish, mollusks, dragonflies, crab, shrimp, and aquatic plants are important sources of food, medicine, and construction material for millions of people living in the basin, and provide resources for communities that cannot access or afford market goods. Pollution from industrial and agricultural activities, over-harvesting of resources, and land clearance are among the primary threats to biodiversity in the region.
