Number of questions: [7]
 |
Posted on 15/01/2007 22:51:38 |
Dear Mr. Diop,
Thank you for initiating this forum.
Guiers Lake in Senegal is facing a serious problem due to the aquatic vegetation which colonize more and more the shore and shallow areas of the lake. This accelerate the sedimentation and others process which indeed impact negatively the ecological status of the ecosystem. And because of its important role in the region (industry, agriculture) and for the urban population in Dakar, it is crucial to take care of that lake.
So, what useful activities are or must be undertaken under the auspice of UNEP or other international organizations to save this waterbody?
Best regards,
Ismaila from Vienna
|
|
Ismaila NDAO
|
|
Dear Ismaila,
Thank you for the interesting questions you raised regarding the lake de Guiers. Indeed, this lake is facing the same problems than many other African lakes submitted to various impacts of land based sources of human activities, mainly from unsustainable agricultural and industrial practices....For the case of lake de Guiers, impacts of the hydro-agricultural activities of SAED, sugar industry activities from CSS-Richard Toll and other agricultural practices related to tomatoes production are obvious....All this, including some domestic waste water use run off (though not important for the time being) have a clear impact on the lake environment.
Any action to be initiated either by UNEP or other agency should involve key stakeholders, including local populations and communities, local industries, local authorities and government representatives, civil society and NGO's, etc...One of the solutions could be to initiate a sustainable management plan of Lake de Guiers which will take into consideration the integrity of the lake as well as the reality of the economical activities important for the country and for the long term benefit of the population and the overall region.
After all what is at stake is an important lake environment that generates substantial income to local populations…Moreover and as you may know, lake de Guiers used to supply Dakar and its surrounding with an important quantity for fresh drinking water. The preservation of such lake from increasing environmental degradation is important for the economy and the well-being of the population of this country.
All the best.
Salif
|
|
Posted on 15/01/2007 12:47:22 |
Dear Mr Diop,
I am currently writing a report that is based on Nairobi River. I am aware that there was a project run by UNEP and various partners on the Nairobi river basin.
( http://www.unep.org/roa/Nairobi_River) I however cannot seem to access any information on the said project online and all my queries to UNEP on the subject have remained largely unanswered.
Could you possibly be kind enough as to let me know how I can access reports (information) on the said project?
Yours truly,
Kenneth.
|
|
Kenneth Kagiko
|
|
Dear Kenneth,
You are right, UNEP through its Regional Office for Africa (ROA) is running since a few years the "Nairobi River Project" with various partners...The project website is presently being updated and will be alive very soon...
I have just talked to my colleague of ROA who is dealing with this project. Kindly find below the following websites where you can get some useful information for this project as well as the contact of H. Ndede, Programme Officer, Co-ordinator, Nairobi River Basin Programme at ROA.
Nairobi River Basin Programme contacts:
http://www.unep.org/roa/Projects_Programmes/
or
www.unep.org/ROA/nairobi_river
or
http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/nrbp
Henry's contacts.
Henry Ndede
Programme Officer, Water
Co-ordinator, Nairobi River Basin Programme
Regional Office for Africa, UNEP
UN Gigiri Complex, Block A-124
P.O. Box 47074, NAIROBI, Kenya
Tel: (254 20) 7624276
Fax: (254 20) 7623928
E-mail: Henry.Ndede@unep.org
Good luck!
Salif
|
|
Posted on 15/01/2007 11:39:31 |
Dear Salif,
It seems like in the late 90’s there was a strategy (from the World Bank etc) to deal with water supply by privatizing the water in developing countries. The price of the water increased and this caused a lot of conflicts and riots. I’m thinking about what happened in Cochabamba, Bolivia year 2000.
Is privatization of water a growing trend around the world?
Where does UNEP stand in this matter?
Regards, Claudia
|
|
Claudia Villamor
|
|
Dear Claudia,
You are touching to a rather sensitive issue....Water privatization that is growing indeed around the world, as you rightly said it....But as you may know water is an economic BUT ALSO a social good....I am not going to tell you where precisely UNEP or other International organizations stand in this matter, but simply give my personal views on this matter:
1. The trend towards privatization seems to be flattening out;
2. There is a general tendency towards harping on the potential of public - private partnerships (PPP’s) that harness the advantages of both publicly managed systems and an effective role for the private sector;
3. Although it is difficult to reconcile financial sustainability and profitability with the diverging interest of public sector and consumers (in particular the poor), experience has shown that the best approach to take should avoid conflicts between social development, public health and environment concerns as well as poverty reduction on the one hand and the private sector's motive of profit maximizing on the other hand.
Hope this will help to address your rather tricky question...
Best
Salif
|
|
Posted on 15/01/2007 11:09:22 |
Dear Salif,
The amount of water in lake Victoria is going down, what is UNEP and the experts doing to save it?
|
|
michael wamache
|
|
Dear Michael,
As you are rightly pointing it out, water level in lake Victoria has been declining since a while, because of the changing trends of the meteorological (rainfall, temperature, wind and evaporation) and hydrological (catchments’ rivers inflows) regimes in the lake. Studies have been performed to assess the declining water levels and its causes; the impacts of the reduced water levels on the economy and ecosystem; and proposals for long term interventions to mitigate the impacts and the threats have done.
While It is difficult to address background trends due to climatic variations and change, it is possible to propose viable solutions as far as the environmental degradation of the Lake Victoria Basin is concerned as we do know the causes of this degradation that are among others: high population, massive algal blooms, water-borne diseases, water hyacinth infestation, oxygen depletion, introduction of alien fish species etc...Indeed, around 75% of the Lake Victoria wetland area has been significantly affected by human activities and about 13% is severely degraded....Water erosion is extensive in many parts of the Lake Victoria Basin, with approximately 45% of the land prone to such erosion. The lake’s increased siltation and increasing flood risks in estuaries are the direct effects of soil erosion and other degradation forces in the basin.....If there are measures that need to be promptly taken to "save" lake Victoria, it is certainly those aspects related to human activities and "pressures" that need to be addressed...by reducing land based sources of activities and other pressure on the Lake's environment.
Do not forget that the Lake Victoria supports one of the densest rural populations in the world (e.g. density of up to 1,200 persons per km2 in parts of Kenya) with an average annual population growth rate of 3% .....All elements that contribute to exert increasing pressures on the lake’s natural resources.
I hope to have answered to your question.
Best
Salif
|
|
Posted on 15/01/2007 07:39:28 |
Dear Salif,
Lake Chad is drying up. What can be done to save it? Could it be replenished via a canal linking it to the Congo river?
Amadou Sene
|
|
Amadou Sene
|
|
Yes, Amadou, you are right; there is a great concern in this part of Africa that Lake Chad is drying up and shrinking, because of a combination of natural phenomena due to climate change and variability, but also due to human activities and over-pressure (pasture, over-grazzing, unsustainable agriculture practices and irrigation, over-abstrattion of surface and groundwater, loss of vegetation, etc...).
What to do in order to overcome this serious situation in Lake Chad basin with all the well known impacts on the ecology and the water body of the lake? Inter-basin water tranfer (from Oubangui, one of the major tributaries of Congo river) has been envisaged as one of the possible solutions by some regional and inter-regional organizations; but there is a need for pre-studies and for assessment of environmental and social impacts in both Lake Chad and Congo Basins....If this constitutes a final option, those assessment studies need to be undertaken very seriously before any attempt of water transfer....
Besides those considerations, political agreements need to be reached within the subregion, all countries involved and key stakeholders, in particular local communities...As far as I know, this seems not to be the case for the time being, although there are already feasibility studies that have been undertaken in the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission..
This means once again that there is a lot to do in future in order to get the Lake Chad back to normal ???
Hope this will be useful to answer to your question.
Best
Salif
|
|
Posted on 14/01/2007 20:32:23 |
1 - Existe-il une recommandation de gestion qualitative de l'eau douce dans les pays en développement face la pollution des eaux due essentiellement aux activités humaines (agricoles et industriellles) ? les experts, notamment votre organisme, ont-ils assez sensibiliser la communauté internationale sur la pénurie d"eau ?
2 -Quelle place accordée à l'écologie ou comment repenser la gestion de l'eau dans notre l'environnement et quelles actions prioritaires mettre en place ?
Je vous remercie.
|
|
sarr malick
|
|
Cher Malick,
Vous soulevez la trois questions importantes relatives a la qualite de l'eau dans les pays en developpement, la sensibilisation sur les questions de penurie d'eau, notamment pour les annees a venir, et enfin, les actions prioritaires a mettre en place pour la gestion de l'eau.
1. Pour la 1ere question: la qualite de l'eau douce dans les pays en developpement. Le PNUE dispose en effet depuis plusieurs annees d'un programme global ayant trait a l'evaluation de la qualite de l'eau douce dans le monde entier...Dans ce programme l'accent est particulierement mis sur les poitiques, les standards et autres guides sur la qualite de l'eau, les indicateurs, etc...Du reste des programmes de formation appropriee sont concus pour les pays en developpement dans le cadre de ce programme...Mais encore une fois cette question est d'autant plus importante que l'on peut disposer de toute la quantite d'eau possible - masi pour peu qu'elle soit polluee, personne ne pourra l'utiliser - autant dire que c'est comme si l'on etait en situation de penurie reelle...; Si vous vous interessez a ce programme et ses activites: voir le site web suivant: http://www.gemswater.org/.
Pour ce qui concerne la pollution des eaux due aux activites humaines, elle constitute une des toutes premieres priorites non seulement dans les pays en voie de developpement, mais aussi dans les pays developpes...çette forme de pollution affecte nos eaux souterraines, mais aussi nos eaux marines et cotieres avec l'impact que l'on connait tant au niveau des organismes vivants qu'au niveau de la sante de nos populations...Qui plus est, cette forme de pollution affecte l'economie de beaucoup de pays - exemples des regions cotieres ou le tourisme a ete pratiquement abandonne a cause des ces formes multiples de pollution...Il nous faut donc agir et mettre sur pied des plans strategiques concrets avec obligation de resultats...C'est dans ce cadre que le PNUE a mis sur pied - entre autres - depuis 1995 un programme inter-gouvernmental de controle et de lutte contre la pollution due aux activites terrestres. Dans ce programme (ou toutes les formes de pollution affectant les milieux marins et cotiers ont ete identifiees) ont ete associes tous les acteurs gouvernementaux et inter-gouvernementaux, y inclus les populations locales et la societe civile ainsi les ONG's - Plus de details: voir le site web de ce progarmme: http://www.gpa.unep.org/
Dans d'autres regions du monde, des Directives ont ete mises en place et elles ont donne des resultats concrets tres appreciables - cas de la Directive Europeenne sur l'Eau, pour ne citer que celle-la.
2. Les actions de sensibilisation sur lles penuries d'eau presentes et surtout a venir...Vaste question que je ne vais pas developper de long en large pour des raisons de temps....Nos programmes relatifs aux eaux douces ont clairement indentifie les regions a risque - tenat compte de la consommation d'eau due aux differentes activites domestiques, industrielles et agricoles...Et comme vous le voyez si bien, tous les secteurs sont effectivement concernes et TOUS devront faire des efforts pour reduire les consommations au besoin, reduire les gaspillages et mettre au point dans certains cas des technique d'utilisation rationnelle de l'eau douce pour des rendements plsu efficaces (cas de l'agriculture qui est la plus grande consommatrice d'eau sur la planete). Ici, non seulement le PNUE mais aussi les autres organisations internationales impliquees - UNESCO, FAO, WHO, WMO, la Banque Mondiale, UN-HABITAT, UNIDO, etc...et j'en passe...sont tous reunis dans un vaste programme qui au total fait le point tous les 3 a 4 ans et preconisent des mesures pour l'utilisation rationelle de nos ressources en eaux douces...C'est une question clef - car sans eau, pas de vie, ni d'activities viables possibles sur terre - Ainsi, sur la base de resultats scientifiques et par des actions concretes ou sont associes gouvernments, ONG, societe civile et population locale, on espere ainsi arriver a des actions de sensibilisation de tous - dans les pays en developpement comme dans les pays developpes - car ceci est un probleme que nous concerne tous.
3. Les actions prioritaires pour ce qui est de la gestion de l'eau dans notre environnement: Une tres vaste question que je vais tenter de resumer en quelques points clefs mais tres generaux, en considerant encore une fois, tous les secteurs implqiues - agriculture, industrie et domestique - :pour ne citer que ceux-la:
Tout d'abord, Il est important de noter que toute forme de gestion durable de l'eau - en tant que resource - ne peut se faiire que sur la base d'informations scientifiques credibles, fiables, mises a jour, etc...ne serait-ce que pour avoir une idee des quantites d'eaux dont on dispose et de leur Etat (qualite). Il donc important de mettre en place des programmes scientifiques suffisamment robustes et credibles afin d'obtenir des informations fiables pour toute action future;
C'est sur la base de telles informations scienfiques que les politiques et autres decideurs - par des discussions suivies - arrivent a cerner les problemes cruciaux et prioritaires (par exemple: de penurie d'eau, de pollution accrue ainsi que d'autres impacts reels, de sur-consommation, de degradation, de secheresse ou d'inondations, de manque de formation de personel adequat pour les pays en developpement, de nouvelles technologies a concevoir, etc....);
Sur la base d'une identification claire des actiosn prioritires, se mettre d'accord sur les actions a entreprendre, qui peuvent aller de l'action prise a l'echelon locale, jusqu'a des formes d'actions conventionnelles qui impliquent les gouvermements de toutes les regions et au plus haut niveau.
Il y'a la tout un programme developpe par le PNUE et les autres agences internationales avec encore une fois, l'appui des gouvernements, des ONG, des populatiosn locales et de la societe civile en general....Je pourrai vous fournir des exemples regionaux (sur l'Afrique, l'Asie, etc...), mais je crains d'avoir deja ete trop long pour repondre a vos 3 questions si importantes...
En esperant que ces reponses vous seront utiles...Et merci encore une fois pour tout l'interet que vous portez a ce type de forum initie par le PNUE.
Bonne journee.
Salif
|
|
Posted on 14/01/2007 02:14:55 |
Hola.-
Yo me encuentro en New York, trabajo en Telemundo como Weather Anchor. Estoy haciendo un especial del Calentamiento Global. Tienen ustedes algun representante en español que nos pueda hablar en camara sobre este tema?
|
|
VERONICA ALBORNOZ
|
|
Dear Veronica,
One advice - if I may - is to contact our colleagues in LAC Regional Office (Latin America and Caribbean). I am sure they will be able to provide you with a name of an expert familiar to Spanish language who will be able to discuss with you climate change issues. In case you may be interested, the new address for the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is the following:
UNEP/ROLAC
Edificio No.132
Ciudad del Saber
Clayton, Ancon
Panama City, Panama
Tel: +507 3050700
Attention to the Deputy Regional Director: "Lesly Puyol"
Best
Salif
|
|
