Project Tasks
The project is constructed as a series of Workpackages, each addressing a separate task. The relationship between Worpackages, and their timing are shown in Figs 1 and 2.
Workpackage 1: Project coordination. Overall project coordination will extend throughout the 36 months of the project, coordinated by GLA, and assisted by the other 4 university partners in specific aspects (e.g. detailed workshop organisation). GLA will liaise with the Secretariat, be responsible for reporting and financial management of the project, and will coordinate publication and dissemination of results. Deliverables: reports to EC; audit(s) of finances; project outputs as a whole.
Workpackage 2: Design and implementation of project website. GLA will design and set up a project website from Month 1, with assistance from the other 5 partners, and will be responsible for maintaining and updating this (with materials feeding in especially from WPs 4, 10, 12 and 18: see Fig. 1, below) throughout the 36 months of the project. The website will have both open-access and restricted-access (EC/ ACP, partners and stakeholders) sections, but the general principle will be to allow free access to datasets and deliverables, post-publication. Deliverable: website.
Workpackage 3: Workshop: network consolidation and project planning (Potchefstroom, South Africa). NWU will organise the initial planning workshop meeting, to be held in South Africa in Month 3, and involving representatives of all partners and stakeholders. The principal activity involved will be to establish in detail the Action research framework, built around the focus of constructing a pilot methodology for river health assessment in southern tropical Africa. In addition the workshop will finalise detailed plans for the first year of the project, and undertake preliminary broad planning to ensure smooth delivery of subsequent activities. Deliverable: workshop recommendations report.
Workpackage 4: Review of information on existing biomonitoring methodologies and appropriateness for adaptation to river quality assessment protocols for use in southern tropical Africa. UCT will coordinate the work needed to complete the activities involved in this WP (Months 3 – 5), primarily assisted by the other 4 university partners, DWAF and SEPA (consultation with other stakeholders is also anticipated). The activities to be undertaken (which will be aimed at establishing efficient mechanisms for access to and the adaptation of appropriate foreign technology, in line with Programme priorities) will involve literature and on-line searches, reviews and synthesis of findings. Face to face discussions with organizations in Europe and Africa involved in river water quality assessment, and utilizing or interested in utilizing biomonitoring procedures will be factored in where cost-effective. Deliverable: report detailing comparisons of river biomonitoring procedures worldwide, their effectiveness, and their suitability (or otherwise) for modification for use in rivers of southern tropical Africa.
Workpackage 5: Collection and databasing of existing datasets for rivers of the target region (invertebrates, macrophytes, benthic algae, hydrology, water chemistry), plus collation/ preparation of identification resources. This large WP (occupying Months 4 – 14) will involve a major effort by all 5 university partners, coordinated by NWU, to complete the component activities. The first activity will be to construct a suitable typology for rivers of the target region (see Table 1, above). Existing datasets (from a wide variety of sources) will then be fitted in to the framework of this typology, to build a database, which in turn will form one strand of the linked databases on biota, hydrology and river water chemistry, required to construct the pilot biomonitoring protocols (see WP12). A final activity within this WP is to identify, and where necessary construct, suitable supporting resources for identification of relevant biota. Further details are given in Section 1.8 Methodology, below. Deliverables: report on typology; database; biota identification manuals
Workpackage 6: Selection of sampling sites. Coordinated by two African partners (NWU, UNZA), and assisted by the African stakeholders and other partners during Months 4 – 5, this WP will identify and recommend river stretches within the target region suitable for sampling in WP8. The aim will be to locate river stretches suitable for sampling to fill gaps identified in coverage of the region, within the typology of physico-chemical conditions within which the river biota occurs. Deliverable: report on sampling site recommendations
Workpackage 7: Workshop: standardization of field sampling and assessment protocols (Lusaka, Zambia). Organised by UNZA in Month 7, this workshop will provide a forum to discuss and agree field sampling, data analysis, and other relevant protocols required to gain, collate and assess survey data from rivers of the target region to be acquired in WP8. Deliverable: report recommending sampling and assessment protocols to be adopted by the project, and recommended as legacy output.
Workpackage 8: Collection, processing and assessment of new datasets (invertebrates, macrophytes, benthic algae, hydrology, water chemistry). Coordinated by ABER, and with the strong involvement of the other partners, plus ECZ, DWR and DWAF, this will take place during Months 8 - 19 (of necessity, to ensure coverage of seasonal changes in riverine flora and fauna (e.g. Dallas 2004a), the sampling period must cover both wet and dry seasons, hence its length), supported by laboratory assessment of specimens, and data analysis. Methodology is discussed further in Section 1.8 Methodology, below. The datasets collected will form the second strand of the linked databases on biota, hydrology and river water chemistry, required to construct the pilot biomonitoring protocols (see WP12). Deliverable: database.
Workpackages 9 and 10: Generation and hosting of project database; linkage of the project database and the database of existing data. These WPs are described together because they will achieve a single deliverable but the timing of activities required overlaps, with WP9 concentrating first on database design, and collation of datasets from participants; while WP10 will compile the data and ensure its dissemination via direct transmission to partners, and via the website.ABER will coordinate and host the linked database to be constructed (with assistance of the other partners, during Months 18 – 22) from the contributory databases assembled by WPs 5 and 8. The linked project database will provided the full set of information required by WP12. Deliverable: integrated database
Workpackage 11: Workshop: development/ application of sensitivity classification scheme procedures (Glasgow, UK). GLA will organize this workshop in Month 23, on completion of the data collection part of the project. The aim will be to discuss between the partners, and with inputs from DWAF and SEPA (given their operational expertise in river biomonitoring respectively within South Africa and the UK), optimal approaches to building and using appropriate classification procedures for allocation of pollution-sensitivity ratings for individual biota occurring within southern African rivers. Deliverable: report giving recommendations on sensitivity classification procedures for use with each group of target biota.
Workpackage 12: Development of pilot biomonitoring protocols utilizing sensitivity classification scheme. Coordinated by GU, and occupying Months 24 – 28, this major-effort WP will involve all 6 partners plus the stakeholder environmental protection agencies in both the UK and Africa. The starting points will be the dataset assembled in WP10, plus the recommendations provided by WP11. Compilation and analysis of the data (using classification and ordination statistical procedures, e.g. Dallas 2004b) will identify the occurrence of target organisms in relation to water quality and hydrology information, within the typology of rivers in the target region. This will be followed by identification of organisms meeting sensitivity class criteria; and allocation of sets of organisms to sensitivity classes for each pollution type (organic pollution, toxic pollution, nutrient pollution) –for an example of how this has been done for riverine macroinvertebrates in the temperate region of South Africa, see Dallas & Day (2007). The methodology of the protocols adopted is likely to be similar to those used in existing biomonitoring procedures, such as MTR, as explained in Section 1.8 Methodology, below. Deliverable: report outlining pilot biomonitoring scheme; methodology manual.
Workpackage 13: Testing of pilot biomonitoring protocols. Testing the new scheme will require a programme of field survey to acquire new data from rivers within the target region, across a spectrum from clean to heavily polluted. Outputs of the assessment of water quality produced by application of the newly-developed biomonitoring procedures will be compared against standard chemical assessments of pollution status of the river stretches targeted..This will require a fourth major effort by all partners plus the African stakeholder agencies (coordinated by GLA and undertaken during Months 29 – 34). Deliverable: report assessing performance of the pilot scheme
Workpackage 14: Development of decision support scheme (DSS) to provide practical guidance in application of biomonitoring protocols. A simple-to-use Decision Support Scheme, to be provided alongside the bioassessment protocols for use by end-user agencies, will be built in stages during the project, culminating in Month 35. The DSS will aim to provide practical assistance in applying and interpreting the bioassessment procedures (for example, in deciding which of the three available procedures is likely to be most appropriate for assessing water quality for different types of pollutants, and in differing types of river conditions occurring within the regional typology). The work will be coordinated by ABER, and will involve all partners and stakeholders. Deliverable: report detailing DSS; methodology manual.
Workpackage 15: Workshop: assessment of results of testing phase and applicability of DSS (Lusaka, Zambia). UNZA will organize this final workshop in Month 35, which will aim to draw together and discuss the findings of the project, and outputs derived from them in WPs 12 – 14. All partners and stakeholders will be involved. Deliverable: report on project outcomes.
Workpackage 16: Demonstration of pilot biomonitoring programme implementation, provisionally using Mokolo River (South Africa), Kafue River plus small streams of South Bangweulu Basin (Zambia). NWU will coordinate activities in South Africa; UNZA (working with KAS) will be responsible for coordinating activities in Zambia, within this WP, in all cases working with relevant stakeholder agencies to collect data and arrange demonstrations of sampling and analysis procedures from the selected rivers and streams to interested parties, in the final two months of the project. The work will be linked closely to training activities under WP17. Deliverables: data, training activities, website material, transfer of knowledge to outside agencies.
Workpackage 17: Training in use and implementation of biomonitoring scheme. NWU and UNZA will respectively coordinate training activities using the new scheme, in their own country, working with staff of relevant stakeholder agencies in Zambia and South Africa, and assisted by SEPA and the 6 project partners as appropriate. Training activities will commence in Month 32 with the main effort coming in the final two months of the project. Deliverable: cadres of trained staff; training manual.
Workpackage 18: Project recommendations and dissemination of findings. GLA will coordinate production and dissemination of project findings and recommendations, assisted by all project partners and stakeholders in the final month of the project, and will continue this role subsequent to the formal end of the project. In this WP (and elsewhere, wherever relevant) the Action will incorporate information and communication activities that raise awareness of the reasons for the Action and its EU support, as well as the results and the impact of this support. All dissemination and demonstration activities that utilise written material, press conferences (plus signs and all other tools used to highlight EU participation) will incorporate the written and visual identity of the EU. We will also make full use, as appropriate, of the tools available from the EU to present a dynamic communication strategy that will highlight the achievements of EU support. Deliverables: final report, publications in refereed scientific journals; dissemination of methodology and training manuals.
Fig. 1 Timing of Workpackages
