INRAE-Sorbonne Université, iEES Paris, Paris, France.
Institut d'Ethnosociologie, Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
PLoS One. 2020 Sep 24;15(9):e0238832. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238832. eCollection 2020.
Monitoring of cyanobacteria in freshwater ecosystems is a complex task, which is time consuming and expensive due to the chaotic population dynamics and highly heterogeneous distribution of cyanobacteria populations in water bodies. The financial cost constitutes a strong limitation for the implementation of long-term monitoring programs in developing countries, particularly in Africa. The work presented here was performed in the framework of an international project addressing the sustainable monitoring and management of surface water resources used for the production of drinking water in three African countries. We tested the potential of a citizen approach for monitoring cyanobacterial blooms, which are a growing threat to the drinking water supply. This pilot study was designed, implemented and evaluated in close interaction with the Pasteur Institute of the Ivory Coast and with the populations of three villages located on the shoreline of a freshwater lagoon located near Abidjan city. Based on the use of a smartphone application, the citizens of the three villages were invited to report water color changes, as these changes could reflect cyanobacteria proliferations. A two-year experimentation period has shown that it is possible to mobilize the local populations to monitor cyanobacterial blooms. The data collected by citizens were consistent with the data obtained by a classical monitoring of cyanobacteria performed over seven months, but it appeared that new approaches were needed to validate the citizen data. This participatory approach also provided great improvements to the understanding and awareness of local populations regarding water quality and cyanobacterial bloom issues. Finally, we discuss some of the difficulties and limitations of our participatory monitoring approach that should be considered by further implementations. Despite these difficulties, our work suggests that citizen monitoring is a promising approach that may complement the classical approach to sustainable monitoring of cyanobacteria in developing countries.
淡水生态系统中蓝藻的监测是一项复杂的任务，由于蓝藻种群在水体中的混沌种群动态和高度异质分布，监测既耗时又昂贵。费用问题是发展中国家（特别是非洲国家）实施长期监测计划的一个主要限制因素。本研究是在一个针对三个非洲国家地表水饮用水资源可持续监测和管理的国际项目框架内进行的。我们测试了一种公民监测蓝藻水华的方法的潜力，因为蓝藻水华对饮用水供应构成了越来越大的威胁。本试点研究是在与科特迪瓦巴斯德研究所以及位于阿比让市附近一个淡水泻湖岸边的三个村庄的居民密切合作的情况下设计、实施和评估的。基于使用智能手机应用程序，邀请三个村庄的居民报告水色变化，因为这些变化可能反映了蓝藻的增殖。为期两年的实验表明，可以动员当地居民来监测蓝藻水华。公民收集的数据与七个月来对蓝藻进行的经典监测数据一致，但似乎需要新的方法来验证公民数据。这种参与式方法还极大地提高了当地居民对水质和蓝藻水华问题的理解和认识。最后，我们讨论了我们参与式监测方法的一些困难和局限性，这些问题在进一步实施时需要加以考虑。尽管存在这些困难，但我们的工作表明，公民监测是一种很有前途的方法，可以补充发展中国家对蓝藻进行可持续监测的经典方法。
