Lake Tanganyika

Cage aquaculture is spreading rapidly on AGLs without lake-specific best management practices (BMPs) to ensure long-term socio-economic and environmental sustainability. PESCA project is developing a decision support tool (DST) and BMPs to guide development or improvement of policies and regulations to improve fish production and profitability from cage aquaculture with minimal impacts on the aquatic environment of the AGLs.

e-CAS is a software developed to manage fish catch and related statistics. The software provides an opportunity for fisheries authorities to engage Beach Management Units in collecting fisheries and related statistics which are then sent by use of mobile phones to a central computer system for processing and utilization. The system increases the frequency of data collection as per the LTA and LVFO standard operating procedure.

Building on BirdLife sediment fingerprinting study on the impacts of climate change in the Lakes Kivu and Tanganyika basins, this project will enhance the resilience of communities within the Sebeya and Ruhwa catchments through agroforestry and sustainable agriculture, building capacity for climate change adaptation and disseminating best practices in the African Great Lakes Region. This project is implemented in partnership with ABN – Burundi, NaFIRRI and BirdLife.

Members of this project will host an applied, collaborative workshop which creates lake committees on each of the African Great Lakes. Each lake committee will consist of relevant freshwater experts to harmonize and prioritize research, guide regional research efforts, and facilitate communications between partner countries to positively affect freshwater policy and management using regular in-person meetings, the African Great Lakes Inform, and other relevant means.

The 2017 African Great Lakes Conference, Entebbe, Uganda resolved to advance the African Great Lakes Information Platform (AGLI) (this platform) established by The Nature Conservancy. AGLI was created to promote research and collaboration and support decision-making to ensure the inter-generational sustainability of the lakes and their basins. AGLI will be hosted at the University of Nairobi and managed jointly with the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education. 

African Great Lakes (AGLs) contribute 2.7 million tonnes (~25%) to global inland fisheries production (11.9 mt) annually. This is composed of large species (> 20 cm total length, TL) and small pelagic species (< 20 cm, TL). At the turn of the 20th century, fisheries of the AGLs were dominated by large species (tilapine cichlids, Lates spp, cat fishes, Mormyrids, etc.) and management concentrated on these species.

Thirty-six countries in sub-Saharan Africa have severe shortages of health workers. At least 2.3 trained health care providers are needed per 1,000 people to provide 80 percent of the population with skilled care at birth and child immunisation coverage. Nurses and midwives are on the frontline of health services in Africa. Ensuring that they are provided with the necessary competencies to work and function properly is key in reducing the alarmingly high maternal and mortality rates in Africa.

There has been a lot of discourse throughout the sustainable development goals (SDGs) process on the need for integrated policies that consider the synergies and trade-off across SDGs thematic areas and how that is critical for the achievement of sustainable development. However, most of the discussions have remained in the global policy arena, with less focus on how the integration would be achieved at national policy and program levels.

This project contributed to poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation by training communities around the Malagarazi Wetland complex in Burundi on sustainable fisheries and agriculture pratices. Some development activities, such as good fishing practices, can be undertaken without a negative impact. However, many fishermen in the region use inappropriate equipment such as mosquito nets and toxic products. Such practices kill all of the young fish, eventually leading to widespread decline in fish stocks.

Protected areas are often designed around terrestrial conservation priorities, raising questions about their value in conserving aquatic habitats and species. Tanzania's Mahale Mountains National Park represents a unique approach by creating a no-fishing zone along the shore of the largest reserve in the Lake Tanganyika catchment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the benefits of these protections for aquatic habitats, water quality, and littoral fauna.

This project was completed as part of the Conservation Leadership Programme's (CLP) internship program. CLP supports projects that develop the skills of early career conservationists working to conserve the planet's most threatened species and habitats. This project allowed an intern to acquire the skills and knowledge required to be well-positioned to take a lead role in developing the capacities of local communities to sustainably manage and benefit from their natural resources.

Water management needs in the Great Lakes region of Africa are critical, with inadequate institutions, policies and implementation capacity for effective watershed management. As part of a larger Regional Dialogue to Improve Transboundary Water Resources Governance in Africa, United Nations University - Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) undertook a comparative study of management approaches by lake commissions in the African Great Lakes and Laurentian Great Lakes in North America.

Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (DOF) and BirdLife partners in the South (Nature Kenya, Nature Uganda and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN)), are running a three-year project that began in 2015. The project places a strong emphasis on promoting equality of women and their access to programme benefits and participation, addressing inclusion of indigenous and other marginalised groups, networking and strengthened influence of local civil society groups_and advocacy within the national contexts of programme partner countries.

This project introduced collaborative management to the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve through rehabilitating degraded areas and facilitated an agreement between the local environmental associations around the reserve and the government agency "OBPE." This project conducted environmental and socio-economic studies of the forest and initiated income-generating activities like beekeeping. Furthermore, the project raised awareness among the local population about the importance of the forest for the community and provided improved wood stoves in order to reduce deforestation for firewood.

This project will facilitate APRN/BEPB staff to organize a meeting with local authorities and organization members at Mutumba Commune for discussing new implementation of the organization plan. It will also facilitate identification and purchase of one hectare of land of for the center's site research. This land will host an agropastoral experimentation, the core of sustainable development for the community.

The project aims to support 720 households in 24 cooperatives with 6 cooperatives per hill. It will provide vegetable material from the cultivation of sweet potatoes and market gardening crops (cabbage, egg plant, amaranth and tomatoes). The project will also support co-operatives on agricultural techniques adapted to climate change. The cooperative approach will facilitate project monitoring and sustainability.

In order to increase productivity and combat food insecurity, a goat breeding project was initiated. These goats allowed 46 indigenous households to have manure for soil improvement and thus increase their agricultural productivity.

Integrating women smallholder farmers into the mainstream economy is key in order to increase their productivity, improve the quality of their commodities, gain a voice in decision-making around all aspects of the agriculture value chain and build adaptive capacity to mitigate climate change. NEPAD recognises the impact that climate change will have on African agriculture, especially African women farmers, and designed the five-year Gender, Climate Change and Agriculture Support Project (GCCASP) with support from the Norwegian government.

Over 800 million people are malnourished and the global population is growing, and at the current trend 9 out of 10 children living in poverty in 2030 will be from Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Zero hunger and the SDG Life below water'promote the conservation and sustainable use of aquatic resources for sustainable development.

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.