Reversal of Land and Water Degradation Trends in the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem

INDICATOR 1. Pilot project activities provide opportunities for stakeholder involvement and lessons on land and water management practices for inclusion in NAPs and SAP. Catchment Management Plans (CMP) for integrated natural resources management were prepared and adopted for the Chari- Logone Basin, Lake Fitri and the Lake Chad Shorelines & Northern Diagnostic Basin. The CMP for the Komadugu-Yobe (K-Y) Basin was developed jointly with the K-Y Basin Project (IUCN-NCF) and the Joint Wetlands Livelihoods Project (DFID-funding). The cooperation with these projects yielded a significant success in establishing a Water Charter for the Sustainable and Equitable Management of the K-Y Basin. Local priorities were supported with 56 micro-grants to demonstrate environmentally sustainable approaches to reverse land and water degradation, as a basis for poverty alleviation. A Bio-diversity Study was also completed and a Regional Protected Area Strategy was approved by stakeholders and adopted by the countries.

Progress was made towards the harmonization of relevant legal frameworks, regulations and approaches in the member countries for the integrated and transboundary management of the shared land and water resources of the Lake Chad Basin. Comprehensive national and regional diagnostic reports on legal, institutional, economic and financial aspects of the transboundary management of shared land and water resources of the Basin have been prepared.. These reports complement the development and implementation of the SAP. Recommendations focused on: (i) creating transboundary IWRM Committees; (ii) harmonizing and completing the national legal frameworks through an integrated approach regarding the various uses of water, land and the environment; (iii) creating of the LCB Observatory to monitor water resources, environmental, economic, socio-economic and other aspects relevant to an implementation of IWRM; and (iv) capacity building to promote IWRM. Though national legal and institutional frameworks are yet to be harmonized, each Member State has committed to ensure that its body of laws and regulations will be coordinated and supportive of environmental policies developed through the NAP/SAP process. The NAPs, the main foundation of the SAP, were prepared based on an assessment of national priority areas of concern, including regional concerns identified in the TDA. Each country has developed objectives and targets, proposed interventions and elaborated a resource mobilization strategy to address their objectives.

INDICATOR 2. LCBC has been reformed, is operating more effectively and its capacity to sustainably develop LCB resources has been strengthened according to an endorsed IA. The Institutional Assessment (IA) was endorsed in the Extraordinary CoM (June 2008). CBOs and local stakeholders proposed and implemented projects addressing local concerns. National teams developed the National Action Programs for the implementation of IWRM. The Institutional Assessment of LCBC was completed and endorsed by the member countries. The IA report contains 34 recommendations aimed at reforming LCBC into a reinvigorated, product-oriented institution. These recommendations call inter alia for the preparation of a Biennial State of the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem Report and the establishment of: (i) a regionally-based data and information system - the Lake Chad Basin Observatory - as part of LCBC‟s capacity to undertake a systematic monitoring role for the natural resources of the basin; (ii) a Water Resources Experts Committee (WRC) comprised of senior level water resources specialists from the Member States; (iii) an Environment, Science and Planning Committee (ESPC) to provide needed scientific capacity to the LCBC; (iv) a Donor Consultative Committee (DCC) to facilitate continued donor involvement and investment in the work of the LCBC, and (v) a Staff Development Fund providing professional development opportunities for recruiting and retaining high quality staff. The IA also recommends upgrading and strengthening the fiduciary capacities of LCBC and improving its overall accountability to Member States and other contributors. Due to the late endorsement of the IA (June 2008), the project was not in a position to support the implementation of these reforms of LCBC. It should be noted, however, that the GTZ is currently supporting the LCBC in the implementation of these reforms. GTZ supported LCBC in elaborating an Action Program for the implementation of the IA. This Action Program was endorsed during the last CoM held in Nigeria on May7-8, 2009.

A comprehensive Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) was completed at national and regional levels. The TDA analysis was conducted through a participatory process and presents the transboundary problems as identified and prioritised by the basin stakeholders. The TDA identifies three overarching root causes of the transboundary problems caused by unsustainable resources use practices, i.e. (i) the absence of sustainable development on the political agendas of the riparian countries, (ii) low standards of environmental education and awareness, and (iii) population pressure. The regional TDA identified seven priority regional environmental concerns, as follows: (i) the variability of the hydrological regime and fresh water availability, (ii) water pollution, (iii) decreased viability of biological resources, (iv) the loss of biodiversity, (v) the loss and modification of ecosystems, (vi) sedimentation in rivers and water bodies, and (vii) the presence of invasive species. The TDA highlights the need to pay special attention to institutional reform of LCBC as the bedrock for arresting the degradation trends in the Basin. LCBC lacks the power to arbitrate water conflicts in the basin. It also has no mechanism for fostering basin level IWRM by way of getting the line agencies of the member countries to harmonize their water resources development programs.

INDICATOR 1. Completion and adoption of the Strategic Action Program (SAP), with a framework, timeline and Financing Plan for implementation of priority activities. The SAP was endorsed by the Council of Ministers in June 2008, but the Investment Plan for SAP implementation was not developed within the duration of the project. A comprehensive Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) was completed at national and regional levels. The TDA analysis was conducted through a participatory process and presents the transboundary problems as identified and prioritised by the basin stakeholders. The TDA identifies three overarching root causes of the transboundary problems caused by unsustainable resources use practices, i.e. (i) the absence of sustainable development on the political agendas of the riparian countries, (ii) low standards of environmental education and awareness, and (iii) population pressure. Based on the findings of the TDA, the SAP was completed as a regional policy framework for the Lake Chad Basin Based on the findings of the TDA, a Strategic Action Program (SAP) was completed as a regional policy framework for the Lake Chad Basin; the SAP was developed in a regional consultation process and endorsed by the Extraordinary COM in June 2008. This result is commendable as few Basins in Africa have been able to complete a SAP in five years. The SAP primarily addresses the seven priority regional environmental concerns as identified in the TDA, lays down the principles of environmental management and cooperation, and establishes a long-term vision for the sustainable development of the Lake Chad Basin. It subsequently defines a set of targets and interventions to meet regionally agreed Ecosystem Quality and Water Resource Objectives (EQWRO) and related indicators for the priority areas of environmental concern, in the transboundary context of the Lake Chad Basin. These EQWROs are: (i) improved quantity and quality of water; (ii) restoration, conservation and sustainable use of bio-resources; (iii) conservation of biodiversity; (iv) restoration and preservation of ecosystems; (v) strengthened participation and capacity of stakeholders, and (vi) institutional and legal frameworks for environmental stewardship of the LCB. The overall objective of the SAP is to contribute to poverty alleviation in the Basin through priority actions, including (i) initiating shared management of the Basin‟s water resources, (ii) implementing a basin-wide sustainable data collection system (the LCB Observatory), (iii) taking sectoral actions for enhanced water demand management, (iv) fighting against desertification and against the loss of bio-diversity, (v) preventing and controlling pollution, and (vi) improving exploitation methods of aquatic ecosystems. The Project did not prepare the Action Program for the SAP implementation., Missing components include (i) estimated costs to achieve the identified EQWROs, (ii) an Investment Plan, and (iii) a strategy and financing mechanism. Although the envisaged donor conference could not yet be held, initial SAP implementation will to an extent be supported by the AfDB-funded LCB Sustainable Development Program (PRODEBALT).