Resources

Lake Victoria supports the worlds largest freshwater fishery which employs over 1 million people, and provides the regions most inexpensive source of dietary protein. Unfortunately, eutrophication and climate change are threatening critical ecosystem services, though the precise impact of these stressors is not clear. Remotely-sensed satellite data is well suited to fill large knowledge gaps and help stakeholders monitor and track ecosystem changes in this and other African Great Lakes.

Population, Health, and the Environment (PHE) is a community-based development model that uses integrated approaches to improve access to health services, especially family planning and reproductive health, while helping communities manage natural resources and conserve the critical ecosystems on which they depend. PHE is a last mile approach that reaches vulnerable populations in rural areas that are typically beyond the reach of government services and large-scale development projects. For over two decades, diverse organizations around the world have carried out PHE projects.

The researchers studied the spatial distribution of large mammals in Murchison Falls National Park in north-western Uganda as oil exploration was on, and found that most large mammals avoided disturbed habitats. Species with a large home range such as elephants, giraffes, buffalos and hartebeests were more negatively affected by oil and gas mining and avoided areas close to the disturbance. Small home range species such as warthogs and oribis were tolerant. Species response varied with disturbance level. High disturbance led to high avoidance behaviour.

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.

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.

While fish catches in Lake Victoria are declining mainly from overfishing and pollution, demand for fish protein has been on a gradual increase as a result of rapid human population growth. To bridge the gap, aquaculture production mainly in ponds and tanks has tremendously increased. Recently, cages have sprung in Lake Victoria, Kenya to augment the growing demand.

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.

Lake Malawi in the Africa Great Lakes region is one of the deepest lakes in the world. The total number of fish species in Lake Malawi is estimated at approximately 15% of the global total of freshwater species and approximately 4% of the worlds fishes. Particularly noteworthy are the high diversity of haplochromine cichlids. It is listed as a world heritage site due to its outstanding universal values. Lake Malawi is about 586 km long and 16-80 km wide covering 20% of Malawis earth surface.

The TerrAfrica Partnership leverages funds to scale up sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a regional initiative to help African countries develop harmonised and programme-based initiatives in sustainable land and water management (SLWM). TerrAfrica also works to improve coordination between African governments, the international development community and other global and regional stakeholders. The programme contributes to realising the objectives of CAADP and the Action Plan of the NEPAD Environment Initiative.