IUCN Water and Nature Initiative: Results and Resilience

WANI – Results & Resilience

Dr Mark SmithHead

IUCN Water ProgrammeGland, Switzerland

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

Dimensions of Crisis

• 1 bn people lack safe drinking water

• 1.2 bn people live where water use not sustainable

• 3.5 bn in water-stressed regions by 2025

• 70% of water use for agriculture

• water consumption 6x higher in USA than China:

• Demand is rising globally

• Lakes shrinking, aquifers mined, rivers not reaching the sea

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How do we make sure there is enough water for nature – and why?

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Why?Income

Nutrition

Health

Livelihoods

Water supply

Disaster risk mgt

Jobs

Economic growth

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Finding solutions

• All people, all species, all branches of the economy use water every day

– water is a systems problem– impacts are networked

• Water for nature means solving people’s problems

– IWRM– eg. environmental flows

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Vision for Water & Nature (2000)

Call to Action

• Environmental Security is guaranteed… based on integrated management of all land and water use through an ecosystem approach

• Social Security is strengthened by providing everyone with equitable access and responsibility for safe… water resources to meet their needs

• Economic Security… is achieved without compromising … the integrity of freshwater and related ecosystems

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What is WANI?

“mainstreaming of an ecosystem approach into water management”

What’s an ecosystem approach?

• maintain ecosystem functions and services

• enhance equitable sharing of benefits

• promote adaptive strategies

• implement management actions through decentralisation

• foster intersectoral / inter-disciplinary cooperation

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IUCN Water & Nature Initiative

Networked regional collaboration: ● HQ, SUR, ORMA, PACO, ESARO, ROWA, ARO, ORO

Phase 1: 2001-2008

● 12 river basins

● 30 projects in 25+ countries

● 200+ members and partners

● Leverage initiative, total budget: $40m+

Phase 2: 2009-2012

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Components & Portfolio

• Learning by doing

• WANI demonstration logic: action, capacity development, policy justification

• Components– river basin demonstrations– governance– economics– equity and empowerment– knowledge and information– communication and learning

What are the Results? (2001 – 2008)

New national water policies

New income generation for poor people

Multi-stakeholder platforms empowered

Basin-level water forums

Partnerships for sustainable water

New transboundary agreements

New assets for sustainable livelihoods

Reduced vulnerability to climate risks

Major basin financing mobilised

Toolkits drive innovation

Komadugu Yobe/Lake Chad

• drought – 1979s & 1980s

• population 23m, growing at 2.5%

• flow declined 35% since 1960s

• siltation and infestation

• rising conflict

• institutional paralysis

• deeper poverty, increasing vulnerability

• failed dam & irrigation projects

• devastation of agriculture, fisheries

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsK4CZeWw2s

Action

• Information: water audit

• Consensus building: catchment management plan

• Governance: water charter

• Results : pilot restoration– flows and fish habitat– conflicts resolved– livelihood prospects

• Finance: $125m Trust Fund

• Scaling: Nigeria IWRM Commission

KYB – A Way Forward

• dire situation forced action

• (breaking) the cycle of degradation and poverty required:

– sharing knowledge

– governance reform to build trust, cooperation and empowerment

– visible impacts

– political engagement

– mobilising finance

– local, regional and national reach

IUCN Water & Nature Initiative

Implementing IWRM in the Real World● new access to information● social learning● short-term tangible benefits ● new coalitions● decentralisation of decision making● governance coordination across scales● leadership

What has WANI taught us?

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Making sense of the Ecosystem Approach

1. What is the problem?

2. What ecosystem services are needed to solve the problem?

3. What actions are needed?

4. What governance is needed to enable action?

5. Who needs to be empowered to act?

6. What incentives and financing are needed?

7. What knowledge and capacities are needed?

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Why an Ecosystems Approach for Water?

• Benefits for people and nature

– integrates environment in decision making

– strengthens investment in ecosystems

– strengthens social inclusion

– catalyses good governance

• Catalysing systems change

– Learning by doing - not waiting for the perfect plan

– Making the complex management in practice

• Building resilience

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Water, ecosystems & resilience

• What is resilience?– capacity to withstand shocks and rebuild when necessary

• Highly adaptive systems of people, economy and nature

• What has WANI taught us about resilience in practice?

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Resilience shift: Tacanà, Guatemala

• deforested watersheds

• degraded farming systems

• social upheaval

• downstream disaster

• weak coordination

• landscape restoration & diversification

• social entrepreneurship

• local coordination of priorities

• municipal – provincial liaison

• disaster planning

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Resilience in practice

1. Diversity

2. Sustainable Infrastructure & Technologies

3. Self-Organisation

4. Learning

• economy• livelihoods• nature & services

• engineering responses• natural infrastructure• sustainable & adaptable mgt

• participatory governance• empowerment• adaptive institutions

• knowledge & skills• climate information• new adaptive strategies

• Tacana• Attapeu

• Pangani• KYB / L Chad

• Volta• Mekong

• Okavango• BASIM

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Water Futures: Climate Change

• Water at the centre of climate change

• Parallels IWRM• systems change problem• unknowns & uncertainties• technocratic, planning focus

• Make the complex manageable• implement ‘resilience in practice’• learn by doing

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Key Messages

• Water & nature: solving nature’s water problems means sorting out people’s

• IWRM– implement through learning by doing– an ecosystem approach has benefits for people and nature– makes the complex manageable in practice

• Resilience in practice– climate change adaptation

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More information

www.iucn.org/water

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WANI-2: Scaling Up

GOAL Mainstreaming of ecosystem services into water management, planning & policies, to support sustainable use of water resources for poverty reduction, economic growth & protection of the environment

1. Ecosystem services & water security

2. Good governance & stakeholder participation

3. Economic development & sustainable financing

4. Leadership & learning

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WANI-2 Portfolio Development