JP water_ins05.qxd 1/26/06 5:37 PM Page 1 37669 GEF Global Action on Water HELPING COMMUNITIES THAT DEPEND ON AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY It is perhaps our most precious resource, the basis and freshwater projects focus on the sustainable of all life on this blue planet--water. Chemically, use of wetlands. it is simple; yet, it affects all our lives in a myriad of ways. At the heart of the GEF's work on water is help- ing communities around the world. Many GEF The GEF recognizes the complex nature of this projects relate to the sustainable use of land and basic resource, using a variety of approaches to water ecosystems so that poverty may be tackle problems of water degradation, pollution, reduced, more food grown, and natural scarcity, and sustainable use. GEF projects focus on resources conserved. In this aspect, GEF projects freshwater systems as well as coastal and marine are yielding critical results in meeting the needs biodiversity, in support of the Convention on of the poor in developing countries as they gain Biological Diversity and other water agreements. livelihoods, food security, and other resources from water ecosystems, such as wetlands. Freshwater biodiversity represents the most highly threatened global ecosystem, with over CONSERVING AND one-half the wetlands already lost to agriculture RESTORING WETLANDS or urban conversion, diking, and reductions in In the West Bank and Gaza, GEF assistance flows from irrigation diversions or hydropower. through a Mediterranean Wetlands biodiversity Because of this situation, many of GEF's inland project has helped farmers utilize new rain water harvesting and irrigation efficiency techniques. Farmers have dramatically increased production and doubled yields through more efficient water use in order to conserve groundwater that recharges important wetlands of Wadi Gaza. An $8 million GEF project in Jordan has provided a much-needed link between biodiversity conser- vation, land use, and water management in two unique ecosystems, the Dana and Azraq wet- lands. The region's extensive system of spring-fed marshes and pools was threatened by upstream groundwater pumping for urban and agricultural Library use. The GEF project supported reforms in the Picture sectors threatening the wetlands, as well as com- Nature/ munity-based, alternative income-generating Brehm activities to help protect the wetlands. Torsten JP water_ins05.qxd 1/26/06 5:37 PM Page 2 With so much wetland loss, countries are finding the downstream water flow of the dams and it imperative to restore wetlands for economic the conservation of globally significant wet- and environmental benefits. A good example is lands in the Waza-Lagone and Komadougou- the Romania Danube Delta project. In the 1980s, Yobe floodplain wetlands. the Romanian government replaced portions of the wetland with farms by draining and diking. The project aims to better prepare the commu- Almost 400,000 hectares of wetlands were lost. nities for fluctuating weather conditions, espe- This damaged the filtering action of the lower cially drought, through low-cost drip irrigation, delta, which had been critical in absorbing toxins water harvesting demonstrations, land tenure from upstream. GEF support was used to pull out security, and an improved joint management the dikes around two islands in the delta. The commission. Improved flows from the dams is islands, Babina and Cernovca, had dried out and the central intervention aimed at sustaining the lost their normal plants and animals. Once the wetlands for use by human settlements. All dikes were removed, the results were astonish- across Africa, restoration and maintenance of ing. Within a few years, 60 percent of the islands floodplain ecosystems and flow regimes will were again covered by reeds and aquatic vegeta- prove to be key to communities' security during tion for use by local communities. The delta worsening times of drought. could once again support fisheries and filter the river water. GEF is now helping other countries of PROMOTING PIONEERING EFFORTS the Danube Basin replicate these successes. The GEF is supporting biodiversity projects involving protected areas that emphasize the FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE services ecosystems provide and encourage pay- FISHERIES AND AGRICULTURE ment for those services. One of the pioneering Throughout the world, maintaining sustainable efforts in this realm is a GEF project in Costa fisheries is vital for local livelihoods. On the Rica. The Ecomarkets Project supports Costa Ganges floodplain in Bangladesh, a $5 million Rica's program of Payments for Environmental GEF biodiversity project is demonstrating sus- Services, operated by the National Fund for tainable practices in fisheries used for local food Forest Financing. Under national law, land users needs and commercial harvest. Fifty pilot com- can receive payments for specified land uses-- munity-managed sanctuaries are being estab- including new plantations, sustainable logging, lished in small rivers and channels to help and conservation of natural forests--which are protect nurseries for fish. thought to generate such positive environmen- tal externalities as protecting hydrological flows, In Africa, the five countries of the Lake Chad conserving biodiversity, sequestering carbon, or basin--Cameroon, Central African Republic, enhancing scenic beauty. Through this program, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria--are working several private and public water users--includ- together on a GEF project that is focusing on ing several hydroelectric power producers, a the sustainable use of land and water bottler, and a municipal water supply system-- resources. Leaders in these countries have real- have signed contracts to pay to conserve the ized that the security of poor communities watersheds from which they draw their water. often depends on access to functioning water This is an example of how downstream benefici- ecosystems for multiple purposes and not just aries sustain high quality water flows by con- FOR MORE access to water for drinking. Livelihoods in fish- tributing to upstream stewardship of water INFORMATION ing and agriculture depend on restoration of supply catchments. Global Environment Facility 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 USA Tel: 202-473-0508 Fax: 202-522-3240 www.theGEF.org January 2006