1 Freshwater Basin Freshwater Basin Management: Management: Experiences and Lessons Experiences and Lessons learnt from learnt from Implementation of Implementation of Lake Victoria Lake Victoria Environmental Management Environmental Management Project (LVEMP) Project (LVEMP) Paper By Christopher M. Nyirabu, Regional Executive Secretary, LVEMP presented at: The Second Global Environment Facility (GEF) Biennial International Waters Conference, 25-29 September, 2002 Dalian, China
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Freshwater Basin Management:Freshwater Basin Management:Experiences and Lessons learnt Experiences and Lessons learnt
from Implementation of from Implementation of Lake Victoria Environmental Lake Victoria Environmental
Paper By Christopher M. Nyirabu, Regional Executive Secretary, LVEMPpresented at:
The Second Global Environment Facility (GEF) Biennial International Waters Conference, 25-29 September, 2002 Dalian, China
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IntroductionIntroduction Lake Victoria Basin, has a
catchment area of 180950 km2, excluding lake surface water, is shared between:Kenya (38913 km2), Tanzania
(79570 km2), Uganda (28857 km2) Burundi (13060 km2) and Rwanda
(20550 km2)
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Introduction (cont)Introduction (cont)Within this basin lie Lake Victoria, a fresh
water resource, and the second largest fresh water in the world.Has an area of 68,800 km2 shared
between Kenya (6%), Tanzania (51%) and Uganda (43%).
Mean depth of 40m and maximum 84m.Estimated volume of water of 2750 km3.
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Introduction (cont)Introduction (cont)Lake Victoria Basin supports estimated
population of 30 million people in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
The people in the basin are engaged in agricultural production of cash and food crops such as:Coffee, tea, sugar cane & maizeFishing & livestock keepingSmall scale mining (in Tanzania)
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Introduction (cont)Introduction (cont)Lake Victoria, on the hand, provides:Fish for food and for saleWater for industrial and domestic use
Hydropower generationTransportation corridor between the
riparian countries.
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Introduction (cont)Introduction (cont)The Lake also serves as a reservoir for
disposal for human sewage and industrial effluents in the basin.
It is an important biodiversity conservation area as well as a climate moderator for some parts of the riparian countries.
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Introduction (cont)Introduction (cont) The gross economic product of the lake
basin is estimated to be $4-5 billion annually.
Fish yields from the lake alone are estimated at 500,000 tons annually
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Status of the Lake Victoria Status of the Lake Victoria Basin Environment Basin Environment
Lake Victoria Basin is facing serious environmental threats in the last fifty years caused by:Increasing human population and
therefore socio-economic activitiesMostly, originate from the
catchment.
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Environmental ThreatsEnvironmental Threats Increasing deterioration of water quality of the
lake caused by discharges of untreated sewage effluents as well as pollutants;
Eutrophication caused by increased inflow of nutrients into the lake;
Degradation of land within the catchment caused by unsustainable/poor agricultural practices.
Through the LVEMP: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda agreed to implement similar environmental activities in the Lake Victoria Basin, in order to:Reverse the increasing degradation of
the LVB resources (waters, wetlands, land, fish, etc)
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FOCUS ON INTERVENTIONFOCUS ON INTERVENTIONThe riparian countries have focused
their intervention on the:Control/prevention of pollution of
Lake Victoria waters;Preventing soil erosion of the basin;Conserving water for increased crop
yields andTree planting for various uses;
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FOCUS ON INTERVENTION FOCUS ON INTERVENTION (CONT)(CONT)
Sustainable Management of wetlands;Management and control of water hyacinth;Improvement and strengthening of fisheries
research;Improvement and strengthening of fisheries
management;Collection of data and information and
analysis in order to understand the dynamics of the Lake Victoria ecosystem.
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Collaboration in the Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMPimplementation of the LVEMP
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have instituted the following collaborative arrangements in the implementation of the LVEMP:
Set up a joint committee (RPSC) consisting of 9 PS (3 from each country) to supervise Project implementation.
Set up a Regional Secretariat based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to coordinate implementation of the Project activities.Coordinates harmonization of lake wide
activities.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Agreed on water quality monitoring standard procedures and established 56-water quality monitoring stations around and in Lake Victoria, which are used for regular water sampling and analysis.
Carried out joint consultancies on Intergrated Water Quality and Limnology Studies on Lake Victoria.Toxic Chemical Oil Spill Contingency Plan for
Lake Victoria.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Formulated a joint Water Quality Model for Lake Victoria for various uses.
The LVEMP is working on the harmonization of fisheries legislations of the three countries for uniform application on the management of the Lake Victoria resources.
Have identified and agreed on 100 fish landing sites for improvement and gazetting. These will ensure the safety of fish handling.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Fisheries Researches from the three countries working for the Project are jointly authoring/editing two books on fish biology on:Biodiversity of Lake Victoria, its
Conservation and Sustainable Use.The Biology and Ecology of Lake
Victoria Fishes; Their Development and Management.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Agreed on the three integrated methods for the management and control of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria (mechanical, manual and biological control agents).
The use of these methods have enabled the three countries to reduce water hyacinth infestation on Lake Victoria by about 80% in three years from 1998 - 2002.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Established a joint Regional Water Hyacinth Surveillance System, which ensures a close monitoring and therefore intervention to control the weed.
Have involved Rwanda to a limited extent, in the management and control of water hyacinth (most water hyacinth comes from Rwanda through Kagera River).
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
Agreed to establish 558 Beach Management Units responsible for:Managing fish landing beaches all around
Lake Victoria (cleanness of the beaches, safety of boats and other property and registration of boats).
Some collect taxes on behalf of the district/municipal authorities.
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Collaboration in the Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP implementation of the LVEMP
(cont)(cont)The Project is also harmonizing GIS on
wetlands using Remote Sensing.
There is a sharing of scientific data and information and knowledge on water quality, biodiversity in Lake Victoria, wetlands, agrochemicals, land management, water hyacinth and afforestation.
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Collaboration in the implementation of Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP (cont)the LVEMP (cont)
The Project is working on the collection, storage, retrieval and sharing of fisheries database and information in Lake Victoria.
Carries out awareness campaigns to East African Communities on the need to conserve and use sustainably the resources of Lake Victoria basin.Through brochures, radio and TV programmes,
meetings, seminars/workshops, newspapers.
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Collaboration in the Collaboration in the implementation of the LVEMP implementation of the LVEMP
(cont)(cont)
The Project has established a joint website, www.lvemp.org, in which information and data in the three countries is posted and updated regularly.
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION Although some progress has been made in dealing
with a transboundary resource, there is still a need for the three countries to continue addressing threats facing Lake Victoria and its basin.
Five years of LVEMP is too short period to tackle successfully, the problems facing the Lake Victoria Basin. It will take a longer period and more resources to solve problems facing Lake Victoria