Management of Trans-boundary

River Basin, Lake Basin and Marine

Resources

By

Rose Bahati Machaku

 Introduction
• Trans-border natural resources that are becoming
more politically, legally and ecologically complex,
• Need for more coordination not only between
different agencies, stakeholders both local and
national levels but also with governments who
must work across jurisdictional boundaries
• Trans-border systems of environmental
management are thus essential to securing
agreements for, and implementation of, specific
action programs
 Introduction cont’
• Growing enthusiasm in trans-boundary natural resource
management (TBNRM) by NGOs, donors and the private
sector
 to better manage shared resources;
 the drive for economic growth through regional
integration and development;
 the need to promote peace and security;
 and more external factors such as globalization and the
agendas of international donors and organizations.
• Numerous TBNRM initiatives have emerged and are
being developed and implemented at a rapid pace.
 Introduction cont’
• trans-border cooperation is an absolute
requirement because;
– Species have no regard for international borders;
– There is international trade in biological products.
– The benefits of biological diversity are of
international importance.
– Many of the factors that threaten ecosystems are
international in scope and require international
cooperation.
Management of trans-boundary River basin and Lake Basin resources

• Basin-wide agreements and institutional

arrangements
 The Niger Basin Authority
 The Okavango River Basin Commission
 Lake Victoria Initiative
 The Nile Basin Initiative
 The Senegal River Development Organization
(OMVS)
 The Gambia River Basin Organization
 The Niger Basin Authority
• nine riparian countries; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Coté
d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria
• promotes cooperation ensure integrated development of
resources
• The specific objectives are:
(i) Promoting cooperation and harmonization of water
resources policies and programmes;
(ii) Planning sub-regional and bilateral projects;
(iii) Designing, implementing and maintaining common projects.
• Provisions were also made for environmental damage
prevention and control, and its conservation including
prevention and control of water pollution and promotion of
human health as well as flora and fauna in the basin
The Okavango River Basin Commission
• interstate agreement between governments of
Angola, Botswana and Namibia.
• based on the principles of International Law regulating
the transboundary waters
• aimed at promoting and fostering close intercountry
cooperation for achieving environmental and other
developmental needs
• particular emphasis on equitable use and sustainable
development of water resources of the Okavango
River.
The Okavango River Basin Commission
• commitment to the implementation of an
Environmental Assessment (EA) and an Integrated
Management Plan (IMP) for the basin
• recognized the threats to the basin and the need
for joint management to protect national interests
(i) Establish Coordination and Consultation
Mechanism.
(ii) Transboundary Diagnostic Assessment
(iii) Strategic Action Programme
 Lake Victoria Initiative
• Within the Treaty for the establishment of the EAC
(November 1999, Arusha, Tanzania) the partner
States agreed to take concrete actions to expand
agricultural land through irrigation and better
management of water catchment areas within the
sub region
• Efforts in recent years have been initiated for inter-
country cooperation in technical studies leading in
the future to a Lake Victoria Basin Commission for
integrated development of natural resources in the
basin
 Management of transboundary marine resources

• require cooperation at various geopolitical scales

• international cooperation indicated by country
participation in agreements and organizations
 IOTC
 Indian Ocean and South-East Asia (IOSEA)
 Convention on Migratory Species
 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS)
 CITES
 Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
• intergovernmental organization established
under Article XIV of the FAO constitution
• mandated to manage tuna and tuna-like
species in the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas
• to promote cooperation among its members
with a view to ensuring, through appropriate
management, the conservation and optimum
utilisation of stocks, encouraging sustainable
development of fisheries
 functions and responsibilities of IOTC
• to keep under review the conditions and trends of the
stocks
• to encourage, recommend, and coordinate research
and development activities in respect of the stocks and
fisheries covered by this Agreement, and such other
activities as the Commission may decide appropriate,
• to adopt, on the basis of scientific evidence,
conservation and management measures
• To keep under review the economic and social aspects
of the fisheries based on the
 Indian Ocean and South-East Asia (IOSEA)

• MoU on the Conservation and Management of Marine

Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and
South-East Asia
• South-East Asia and Australia, Northern Indian Ocean,
Northwestern Indian Ocean, and Western Indian
Ocean
• The IOSEA MoU's Conservation and Management Plan
• focuses on reducing threats, conserving critical
habitat, exchanging scientific data, increasing public
awareness and participation, promoting regional
cooperation, and seeking resources for
implementation.
 Convention of Migratory Species
• aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian
migratory species throughout their range
• It is an intergovernmental treaty.
• CMS Parties strive towards
 strictly protecting endangered migratory animals,
 conserving or restoring the places where they live,
 mitigating obstacles to migration and controlling
other factors that might endanger them
 Convention of Migratory Species
• CMS acts as a framework Convention; Agreements &
MoUs
• E.g. Agreements that aim to conserve Cetaceans of
the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Contiguous
Atlantic Area, Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North-
East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas, Seals in the
Wadden Sea, African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
• MoUs: Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa,
Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian
Ocean and South-East Asia, Dugongs and their
Habitats, Sharks e.t.c
The role of projects in management of transboundary aquatic resources

• Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine

Ecosystems (ASCLME) project
• Lake Victoria Environmental Management
Project (LVMP)
• WIO-LaB Project
• South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Projects
• Mara River Basin
 Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) project

• nine countries of the western Indian Ocean region, including

Comoros, Kenya,Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles,
Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania
• to gather new and important information about ocean currents and
how they interact with and influence the climate, biodiversity and
economies of the western Indian Ocean region;
• to document the environmental threats that are faced by the
countries of the region in a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA);
• to develop a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) which sets out a
strategy for the countries to collectively deal with transboundary
threats;
• to strengthen scientific and management expertise, with a view to
introducing an ecosystem approach to managing the living marine
resources of the western Indian Ocean region.
 Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVMP)

• Is being implemented jointly by the Republic of Kenya, the

United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Uganda
 to maximize the sustainable benefits to riparian
communities of the lake basin from using resources within
the Catchment to generate food, employment, income,
supply safe water and sustain a disease free environment;
 to conserve biodiversity and genetic resources for the
benefits of both the riparian and global communities;
 and to harmonize national and regional management
programmes in order to achieve to the maximum extent
possible the reversal of environmental degradation