Lake Turkana: Status, challenges, and opportunities for collaborative research

Abstract

Lake Turkana, located in northwestern Kenya and south-western Ethiopia, is Africa’s fourth largest lake and the world’s largest permanent desert lake. The lake lies in a closed basin and its limnology, ecology, and fisheries are driven by seasonal cycles of flooding from the Omo River, which provides more than 90% of the lake’s inflow. Lake Turkana is a unique ecosystem and is home to at least 79 fish species (12 endemic), the world’s largest remaining population of Nile crocodile, and hundreds of resident and migratory bird species. The lake has considerable fisheries resources that contribute to food security, employment, and the general wellbeing of local communities. Lake Turkana is also the least studied of the Great Lakes of Africa, due to its remoteness, the absence of necessary scientific infrastructure, and the scarcity of trained personnel in the field of aquatic sciences and fisheries in the region. Here, we present a review based on the available literature and on expert discussions and surveys to synthesize current knowledge, research gaps, and opportunities for increasing our knowledge on this unique ecosystem. Our literature review showed that there is a marked lack of interdisciplinary and applied research on Lake Turkana, and that much of the work published on the system (63.3%) focuses on previous geological periods rather than the current state of the ecosystem. We highlight four critical steps that need to be taken to improve research into this system: local capacity building, consistent monitoring and data sharing, sustainable financing, and strengthened collaborative networks.