Authored by Brad Czerniak

The transboundary Lake Kivu and Rusizi River basins are very important for biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services such as supply of freshwater, food from fishing and agriculture, pollination, soil fertility and erosion control, carbon sequestering, the provision of non-timber forest products, as well as providing aesthetic and recreation experiences. These landscapes are currently facing a multitude of threats arising from unsustainable practices and poor land and catchment management. Many of these threats, such as erosion, landslides and sedimentation in the rivers and lakes are expected to worsen under climate change. This project is intended to improve climate change resiliency in the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin by organizing an expert workshop to develop site-specific interventions under the CRAG Intervention Plan and conducting sediment fingerprinting. The CRAG (Climate Resilient Altitudinal Gradient) concept applies various conservation approaches and activities, such as integrated water management; ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change; soil erosion, pollution and forest management; and community livelihoods, which have impact across a landscape gradient in ways that directly benefit human wellbeing and environmental biodiversity.