Africa's Forgotten Fishes...and the emergency recovery plan to save them

Africa‚'s Forgotten Fishes spotlights the extraordinary richness and critical importance of the continent‚'s freshwater fishes‚ – home to more than 3,280 species, most of them found nowhere else on Earth. These fishes are essential to the health of rivers, lakes, and wetlands across Africa, and they sustain the food security, nutrition, livelihoods, and cultures of tens of millions of people. Yet despite their value, freshwater fishes remain largely invisible in policy and development decisions, and are now facing alarming declines due to damming, habitat degradation, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change. This report calls for urgent action, including adoption of a science-based Emergency Recovery Plan and broader participation in the African-led Freshwater Challenge, to protect, restore, and sustainably manage freshwater ecosystems‚ – securing a future for Africa‚'s fishes and the people who depend on them.