Plan

Wetlands are important for the role they play in society providing a range of ecological and socio-economic functions. Ecological and regulating services include erosion prevention, moderation of extremes, sediment traps, climate modification, soil formation, maintenance of water tables in surrounding lands and as centres of biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Socio-economic or provisioning services include food, medicines, water supply, fisheries, dry-season grazing for livestock, nutrient and toxin retention, tourism and so on.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiated the development of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) at its 7th Conference of the Parties (COP 7) in Marrakech, Morocco. The NAPA provide a quick process for identifying priority activities that respond to an urgent and immediate needs to adapt to climate change those for which further delay would increase vulnerability and/or costs at a later stage.

The price of land on the global market is often far below its real value to society. Thsi means that too much has been and is being extracted from the land, degrading it to a dangerous extent. Worldwide, 52 percent of land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by land and soil degradation, a widespread phenomenon occurring globally. Recent estimates show that ecosystem service losses from land degradation cost $6.3 to 10.6 trillion annually. Everyone on earth suffers indirectly, and for the 1.4 billion rural poor land degradation has a direct impact on livelihoods.

This document outlines recommendations for financing integrated water resource management (IWRM) in the African Great Lakes.

The Lake Tanganyika basin is recognised globally for its unique richness of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, exceptional scenic beauty and high overall ecological and socio-economic value. The lake harbours over 1,500 species, out of which approximately 600 occur nowhere else in the world. Furthermore, the lake contains almost 17% of the world 's available surface freshwater, providing a permanent source of drinking water, as well as water for domestic use, industrial and agricultural development.

In May 2017, the African Great Lakes Conference: Conservation and Development in a Changing Climate was held in Entebbe, Uganda. This conference sought to increase coordination, strengthen capacity, inform policy with science, and promote basin-scale ecosystem management in the region. Because all of the African Great Lakes cross borders, the benefits they offer and the challenges they face are best managed at a basin-wide level.

In 2015, UNEP-WCMC, CCAFS and ARCOS initiated a project focusing on cross-boundary impacts of agricultural development and other forms of land use on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB). The project aims to improve regional coordination and alignment of national-level land use-related policies and plans. To this end, a scenario-guided approach to policy development was adopted, building on the work of the CCAFS scenarios project.

Africa's continental fisheries and development strategy, The Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa (PFRS), advocates for the sustainable management of aquatic resources for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development. The ecosystem approach to aquaculture (EAA) is a strategy for the integration of aquaculture within the wider ecosystem to ensure sustainable development, equity and resilience of interlinked social-ecological systems.

The Lake Victoria Nile Perch (NP - Lates niloticus) fishery is the most valuable freshwater fishery in Africa and since the 1990s has supported an export-orientated fishery that generates a significant source of revenue for the population of the three riparian countries. The catch of NP has averaged 250,000 tonnes per year for the last two decades. During the last decade, the fishery has faced serious problems of debt and overfishing and high levels of non-compliance to regulations in the fishing and post-harvest sub-sectors.

The conservation strategy for the Great Lakes Region (GLR) aims to:

The Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized technical office of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the African Union Commission (AUC). AU-IBAR 's mandate is to support and coordinate the utilization of livestock, fisheries and wildlife as resources for both human wellbeing and economic development in the Member States of the African Union (AU). Despite sustained efforts and commitment over many decades by AU-IBAR and others, the potential of animal resources in the fight against poverty and the development of Africa is still underutilized.

There has been renewed interest by development practitioners in Africa in the role of population dynamics in development. This is partly a result of studies conducted to examine the potential of the demographic dividend to accelerate socio-economic development in individual countries and in the continent in general in light of their large youthful population.

As part of an IUCN-led project, this document outlines optimal solutions for a critical sites network that best represents freshwater biodiversity in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB). Using this approach the authors provide a foundation for species conservation through site protection whilst also maximising species climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods.