Lake Victoria

The Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme (MERECP) is a programme of the East African Community whose oversight, coordination and supervision was delegated to the Lake Victoria Basin Commission. It was designed by the IUCN through multi-stakeholder consultations, discussions and interaction with the East African Community Secretariat (EAC), governments of Kenya and Uganda through relevant national government agencies, local government/districts, user groups, NGOs, private sector, local communities, conservationists and researchers.

The foundation's overall goal for the Great Lakes region is to prevent or reduce biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and to sustain ecosystem benefits for human well-being. MacArthur focuses on funding projects in the Lake Victoria, Upper Nile, Tanganyika, Malawi/Nyasa, and Turkana/Omo Basins. Grant making is informed by extensive consultations with a range of stakeholders. MacArthur believes that understanding ecosystem benefits is necessary, but insufficient to spur effective conservation responses at the appropriate scales.

The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) _is a regional organization under the East African Community (EAC) that is responsible for coordinating and managing fisheries and aquaculture resources of the East African Community. The organization was formed through a Convention signed in 1994 by the three EAC Partner States of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and has since been revised to accommodate all partner states of the EAC.

Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater body in the world. Over the last four decades, however, the lake has faced a number of environmental problems including pollution, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction and soil erosion. It is estimated that the lake 's indigenous fish species have been reduced by 80% and over 70% of the forest cover in the catchment area has been lost. In addition, the water quality in the rivers flowing into the lake continues to carry increasing amounts of silt and nutrients.

The East African Community has designated Lake Victoria and its Basin as an "area of common economic interest" and a "regional economic growth zone" to be developed jointly by the Partner States. Lake Victoria is the focus of new attention following the declaration by the East African Community Heads of State that a joint programme be developed for the overall management and rational utilization of the shared resources of the Lake.

Hydrological regimes, including inter- and intra-annual water level fluctuations, are key drivers of productivity and structure in freshwater ecosystems in Africa, where inland fisheries are a vital source of income and protein. Using a synthesis of seventeen standardized food web models of thirteen African lakes and reservoirs, this study explored the relationship between inter- and intra-annual water level fluctuations and sixteen ecological attributes associated with ecosystem configuration, productivity and maturity.

The hydrology of Lake Victoria is, to a large extent, a function of the balance between rainfall on and evaporation from the lake surface. Historical climate variability has resulted in significant fluctuations in the water level in the lake. Climate models predict changes to the balance between precipitation and evaporation over the coming decades, with potentially serious impacts on the lakes water balance. These impacts have implications for the approximately 30 million people living around the lake, as well as further downstream in the Nile River basin.

Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing has been reported in many publications;_this_research project_provides an overview of the extent of IUU fishing on the African Great Lakes. Stock has been taken of fisheries regulations and legislations in the riparian countries to understand the diversity of the interpretation of illegal fishing operations. A summary has been presented of the regulations governing the target species of the different fisheries.

Despite the efforts conservationists trying to protect and conserve indigenous plant and animal life in Eastern Africa, the destruction of natural habitats is continuing. In many cases this destruction leaves behind degraded sites which require replacement of lost elements of the original ecosystem. Habitat restoration techniques can now be employed to repair damage to the diversity and dynamics of original ecosystem processes that sustain life on earth. The need for habitats restoration is one of the key areas of activities recommended in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Water has long been ignored by international climate conferences. However, COP21 (Paris, 2015) and COP22 (Marrakech, 2016) saw the organization of official high-level events on water and climate and the launch of a Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA) dedicated to water, with four Alliances created to implement it: the Global Alliances for Water and Climate (GAWC), gathering the Basin Alliance ( Paris Pact ), the Business Alliance, the Alliance of Megacities and the Desalination Alliance. The International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) is in charge of the Secretariat of the GAWC.

This research project analyzes gender-based violence in cross-border fish trade in the GLR using a human rights perspective. A human rights perspective provides an understanding of the socio-economic conditions facing women fishers in the GLR. Expanding on established research on fishing rights of marginalized people, this analysis highlights human rights issues that have been less documented: gender-based cross-border violence and threats to personal security in the GLR.

NatureUganda in parternship with World Wide Fund for Nature - Eastern and Southern Africa Programme Office (WWF - ESARPO) is coordinating this Education for Sustainable Development - East Africa Programme as part of the Lake Victoria Catchment Environmental Education Project (LVCEEP). The programme is addressing children's rights to education and health with a focus on food security, a healthy environment, clean water and sanitation.

The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative focuses on the economic benefits of land and land-based ecosystems. The initiative highlights the value of sustainable land management and provides a global approach for analysis of the economics of land degradation. It aims to make economics of land degradation an integral part of policy strategies and decision making by increasing the political and public awareness of the costs and benefits of land and land-based ecosystems.

The fishery of Lake Victoria is dominated by three fish species: the introduced species Nile perch (Lates niloticus), Nile tilapia, (Oreochromis niloticus), and the native Silver fish Dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea). Over time fish stocks have been changed both in composition and relative abundance in response to multiple stressors including but not limited to the changing water environment and the ever increasing fishing pressure.

The Disney Conservation Fund supports the study of wildlife, the protection of habitats, the development of community conservation and education programs in critical ecosystems and experiences that connect kids to nature across the globe. Since it was founded in 1995, the Disney Conservation Fund has helped protect more than 400 million species and has given more than $45 million to conserve wildlife and wild places through its annual conservation grants program.

Cage fish farming is growing fish in net enclosures suspended in water at high density in low volume (LVHD) or low density in high volume (HVLD) cages while maintaining free water exchange between the enclosure and the water body. Cage fish farming has increased in the African Great Lakes (AGL) region, since the beginning of the 21st century and has in less than 20 years, demonstrated capacity to increase fish production to more than 40 kg m-3 compared to ~5 kg m-3 from ponds which started more than 60 years ago.

The Crowder-Messersmith Conservation Fund helps small, local conservation and/or education projects in developing countries. Its grants provide seed money to communities and individuals whose projects have not attracted major support from other sources. The Fund honors Orville Crowder and Don Messersmith, two leaders in nature tourism, as a means to further global nature conservation.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) provides grants to nongovernmental and private sector organizations to help protect biodiversity hotspots, Earth's most biologically rich yet threatened areas. Grant recipients range from small farming cooperatives and community associations to international organizations. Every grant helps implement an investment strategy found in the ecosystem profile for each region where we invest.

Proposals that target direct global environmental benefits and meet the following eligibility criteria are welcome:

Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) was established in 2003 after a fatal scabies skin disease outbreak in critically endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda was traced back to rural communities who have inadequate healthcare. In 2007, CTPH started an integrated Population, Health and Environment (PHE) program to promote biodiversity conservation at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP).

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