Commitments to deliver climate finance to developing countries are longstanding. Developed countries pledged to deliver finance approaching $30 billion between 2010 and 2012, in the context of a commitment to mobilise $100 billion per year from public and private sources by 2020 in the Copenhagen Accord of 2009. These commitments were affirmed in the Cancun Agreements of 2010.
The African Great Lakes region has been experiencing extreme rainfall. Sometimes, it might result in floods or it might be very dry weather. But by 2050 the whole region will be experiencing significant changes in the water cycle. Water is the lifeblood of this region with large lakes and rivers. The state of water resources affects all natural, social and economic systems. Water serves as the fundamental link between the climate system, human society and the environment. Climate change is severely impacting the hydrological cycle and consequently, water management in the region.
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity by working with people toward the sustainable use of natural resources. The BirdLife Africa Partnership is a growing network of organizations with more than 500 staff and 87,000 members.
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.
Increasing demand for animal-source foods, the diminishing agricultural land in relation to the growing human population and the impact of climatic variability are together placing increased pressure on the natural resource base on which agricultural production depends.
ARCOS is the only regional conservation organization solely focused on biodiversity conservation in the Albertine Rift. Its overall goal is to enhance the conservation of critical ecosystems and promote sustainable development in the Albertine Rift through collaborative actions between various regional partners.
The African Union Commission launched the prestigious African Union Scientific Award Programme in 2008 with the support of its Development Partners. Under this programme prizes are awarded to top African scientists in (a) Life and Earth Science and (b) Basic Science, Technology and Innovation. The objective is to recognize, award and honor outstanding excelling African Scientists for their scientific achievements, discoveries and innovations.
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.
Adaptive management is an ongoing natural resources management process of planning, doing, assessing, learning and adapting, while also applying what was learned to the next iteration of the natural resources management process. Adaptive management facilitates developing and refining a conservation strategy, making efficient management decisions and using research and monitoring to assess accomplishments and inform future iterations of the conservation strategy.
Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake and the largest lake in the African Great Lakes region. The lake supports the largest freshwater fishery in the world, producing 1 million tons of fish per year and employing 200,000 people in supporting the livelihoods of 4 million people. The major threats to the lake are deforestation, land use change, wetland degradation and discharge from urban areas, industries and farmlands.
Lake Turkana is shallow, but it is the world's largest permanent desert and alkaline lake in the world. The lake water comes from river inflows and all water loss in the lake comes from evaporation. The lake's basin is sparsely populated and residents of the lake lack access to potable water, causing high rates of disease prevalence in the basin. These conditions are compounded by low literacy levels and extremely high poverty levels.
Lake Edward is the smallest among the African Great Lakes, but its basin includes the highly productive Lake George. The majority of the population along the lake lack clean water and have poor sanitation. The basin is home to 81 fish species and the lake's productive fisheries employ around 2000 fishers. Two National Parks, Virunga NP and Queen Elizabeth NP) border the lake, making this area a valuable tourism stop.
The Health of People and the Environment in the Lake Victoria Basin (HoPE-LVB) project used stakeholder engagement, education and a series of community meetings to allow communities to identify the issues most important to them and identify potential solutions. From there, the communities were able to work with local officials to draft and amend a set of by-laws around these issues that everyone in the community could agree upon.
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.
Human-induced wetland fragmentation threatens the sustainability of communities' livelihoods and has caused an 80 percent decline in the population of Uganda's national bird, the Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum). Using participatory approaches, the Cranes and Wetland Conservation project in the Lake Victoria basin has facilitated community participation in sustainable wetland utilisation using cranes as flagship species.
Lake Victoria, the largest African lake, is shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Its fisheries are a source of livelihoods for a large population of the lake's basin through fishing, trade and associated activities. It also contributes to the economies of the three countries through fish exports. The declining trend of fish harvests and fish stock biomass, attributed mainly to increasing fishing effort and illegal fishing, threatens the sustainability of the lake's fisheries. The regional trade in immature fish backed by high-level corruption has exacerbated the decline.
The FAO GeoNetwork provides internet access to interactive maps, satellite imagery and related spatial databases maintained by FAO and its partners. Its purpose is to improve access to and integrated use of spatial data and information. Through this website FAO facilitates multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable development and supports decision making in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food security.
The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) is a capacity building network of networks that promotes dialogue among science, policy and practice for more effective management of biodiversity and ecosystems, contributing to long-term human well-being and sustainable development. BES-Net is hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and implemented through partnerships with the Norwegian Environment Agency, SwedBio at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).
As part of its contribution to strengthening institutional and professional capacity to enable African researchers to fully participate in defining and implementing priority population and health programs in the continent, the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) has developed several research capacity strengthening initiatives.
The APHRC offers the following:
The Africa Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Alliance works to increase the uptake of CSA practices, particularly on the most vulnerable rural communities. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) describes agricultural practices, approaches and systems that sustainably and reliably increase food production and the ability of farmers to earn a living, while protecting or restoring the environment. The combined effects of climate change, inequity and population pressures are escalating the food and nutrition security and income challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa 's smallholder farmers.