WWF SAF Mara River Basin Project Proposal

Proposal for Annual Plan 2007
Project Name:
Project Location:
Project Number:
Project Budget:
Local Partner(s):
Contact Person(s):
Mara River Basin Management Initiative (MRBMI)
Mara River Basin – Kenya and Tanzania (SAF)
GLO-05/312-3 (Norad), 9F047901 / 5002 (WWF)
Year 1: NOK 2,733,418 (NOK 2,478,435 requested from Norad, incl. 8% adm.
grant to WWF-Norway) 1
Year 2: NOK 2,783,994 (NOK 2,524,293 requested from Norad, incl. 8%)
Year 3: NOK 2,550,000 (NOK 2,478,600 requested from Norad, incl. 8%)
WWF Eastern Africa Region Programme Office (EARPO), various
government agencies (water, agriculture, environment), NGOs, CBOs, local
communities, private sector, regional agencies (e.g. EAC, NBI NELSAP).
Dr. Taye Teferi, Conservation Programme Director, WWF EARPO, P.O. Box
62440 00200 Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: +254 20 577355,
Fax: + 254 20 577389, E-mail: TTeferi@wwfearpo.org
Stephen Mariki, Country Conservation Director, WWF TPO, P.O. Box 63117,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tel: + 255 22 2700077, Fax: + 255 22 2775535,
E-mail: smariki@wwftz.org
Svein Erik Haarklau, Programme Leader Environment and Development,
WWF-Norway, P.O. Box 6784 St. Olavs Plass, N-0130 Oslo; Norway. Tel:
+47 2203 6500. Fax: +47 2220 0666, E-mail: sehaarklau@wwf.no
Start Date: January 2006 Expected End Date: December 2009 2
Priority Issues 3 % Contributes to which milestone(s)?
Forests 10
Freshwater Ecosystems 80
Oceans and Coasts 0
Species 5
Toxics 5
Climate change 0
Other 0
Total 100
Global 200 Ecoregion(s) 4
East African Acacia Savannas (Ecoregion 87)
Rift Valley Lakes (Ecoregion 182)
Part of an ecoregion action programme? Yes No X
1 Proposed support from Norad in 2006 was NOK 2,478,435. Actual support was NOK 1,968,300.
2 The proposed new cooperation agreement between WWF-Norway and Norad is for three years (2006–2008).
However, the proposed second phase of the Mara River Basin Management Initiative is a four year initiative.
3 Indicate overall percentage of project relating to each of the six key issues.
4 Indicate the ecoregion(s) in which the project has a conservation impact.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page i

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Proposal is part of the approved three years document for the Mara River Basin
Management Initiative, Kenya and Tanzania (“the Project”) submitted to the Norwegian Agency
for Development Cooperation (Norad) for funding. WWF-Norway contributes with matching funds.
The four years second phase of the Mara River Basin Management Initiative (MRBMI) started in
January 2006 and will end in December 2009. This is in line with the recommendations of an
evaluation of the Project conducted in May–June 2005. The second phase will consolidate
Norad/WWF Norway’s investments in the past three years (2003–2005) and continue to facilitate
a system for integrated water resources management. The USAID Bureau for Economic Growth,
Agriculture and Trade (EGAT) and USAID East Africa also contribute funds to the MRBMI in
2007. One common work plan is prepared for MRBMI, indicating which source of funding
supports each activity.
Background
Detailed background information on the Mara River Basin was provided in the proposal submitted
to Norad in October 2002 and subsequent annual plans as well as the main text of this proposal.
During 2005 WWF commissioned an evaluation of the MRBMI, which concluded that the MRBMI
has made significant contributions to the sustainable management of the Mara River Basin that
also had attracted the interest of other donors. The evaluation observed that the Project is highly
relevant in view of the major threats both to the Mara River and its tributaries, and to the tourist
industry in the National Park (Serengeti, Tanzania) and National Reserve (Masai Mara, Kenya)
that largely depends on the River. In terms of project progress the evaluation team considered
the principal achievements of the Project to be:
i. The lobbying of political leaders for the protection of the remaining forest in the upper
catchment (Mau Forest) in Kenya, the source for the Mara River;
ii.
iii.
iv.
The facilitation of the Mara River Water Users’ Association (MRWUA), a large and
representative forum for discussion on water and related issues in the Kenyan part of the
Mara River Basin. Facilitation of about 20 local level water users’ associations in
Tanzania;
Successful lobbying of civic leaders leading to a proposed sewage treatment plant in
Bomet Town. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has prioritized this project as one of
the investment projects under the NBI NELSAP Mara River IWRM project; and
The fact that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Kenya perceives the MRBMI as a pilot
project for implementing the new water sector legislation and institutional framework.
WWF is working through its Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office (WWF EARPO) and with
financial support from Norad/WWF-Norway and USAID, to create the enabling conditions for
integrated water resources management (IWRM) and to facilitate the efforts of responsible
government agencies, other partners and stakeholders to implement IWRM.
The main achievements of the MRBMI in 2006 are grouped into three areas as follows:
i. Coordination of WWF and other key Stakeholders Initiatives
An evaluation in June 2005 pointed out lack of coherence in the activities of the Project in Kenya
and Tanzania, and also with other actors in the Basin including the Nile Equatorial Lakes
Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP) and the East Africa Community (EAC). The Project has
continued efforts to engage other initiatives and followed up on this recommendation by instituting
remedial measures including recruitment of two more staff and strategic engagement with the
EAC and NELSAP. Two key personnel, a Policy Officer and a Regional Mara River Basin
Coordinator were recruited to assist the coordination and management of WWF’s initiatives and
other initiatives within Mara River Basin. Different projects plans funded by Norad/WWF-Norway
and USAID were integrated into one Mara River Basin Management Initiative to create more
complementarities and synergy.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page ii

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
The MRBMI also undertook further consultation with East African Community / Lake Victoria
Basin Commission, District officials, Water Authority Officers both in Tanzania and Kenya on the
sustainable management of Mara River. Substantial efforts were made towards collaboration with
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP) in the
management of Mara River Basin. One of the milestones was on sharing of information and
clearly defined areas of collaboration and modalities. Major progress has been made recently, in
particular in terms of information sharing.
Efforts towards management of the Mara River Basin as a transboundary ecosystem shared by
the United Republic of Tanzania and Republic of Kenya have started. The Mara River Basin
Management initiative provided support to EAC to organise and host a successful regional
workshop in Arusha, Tanzania, between 19 th and 20 th April, 2006. The outputs of the workshops
included proposals for national and regional stakeholders’ coordination mechanisms, regional
institutions here including MRBMI Technical committee, Water User Forum Steering committee to
oversee the implementation and build synergies within Mara River Basin Initiatives, and to avoid
duplications.
ii. Conserving Mara River Basin and ecoregion
A number of studies have shown that the single largest threat to biodiversity in the Masai Mara
National Reserve and Serengeti National Park is lack of sufficient quantity of water of good
quality. Mara River is the most reliable source of water for these two protected areas and the
fluctuations in the river flow have significant impact on biodiversity, particularly the large
herbivores. The world famous annual migration of wildebeest and other herbivores is heavily
influenced by changes in water quantity (availability).
Water quantity (level) and quality monitoring was carried out in 15 stations as planned in both
Tanzania and Kenya. Two gauging stations were rehabilitated and other 13 stations serviced and
maintained. The Ministries of water in Tanzania and Kenya were facilitated to collect and analyse
water quality samples from 15 baseline monitoring stations established on the Mara River and its
major tributaries.
Photo: Water quality sampling point in the Mara River.
WWF EARPO organised a planning workshop on Environmental Flows Assessment (EFA) with
participation of different experts in hydrology, riparian vegetation, fish, aquatic invertebrates,
socio-economics, hydraulics, ecology and geomorphology. The workshop came up with a
common method of data collection to determine the amount of water needed to maintain the
ecology of the river and the great Mara-Serengeti ecoregion. Data collection will be done within 8
months, and data analysis will be completed by February 2007.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page iii

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
iii.
Sustainable water management
The MRBMI used the opportunity of the new Water Act (2002) in Kenya, which provides for
gazettement of water catchment areas. The MRBMI worked with the Mara Water Resource Users
Association under the umbrella of the Lake Victoria South Catchment Authority (LVSCA) in Kenya
to start the process of gazettement of the catchment forest. The LVSCA, under which the Mara
River Basin falls, has prioritised the gazettement of the catchment forest and is in the process of
taking the necessary steps for the same. If successfully carried out, this will go a long way in
protecting the threatened indigenous catchment forest which forms the head waters of the Mara
River and its tributaries. Stakeholders are highly sensitised about this, and are pushing for the
process to advance as necessary. In Kenya one Water Users’Association has been formed and is
legally empowered, while in Tanzania 12 water management entities (Water Users Associations)
were formed and trained on IRBM and IWRM. Capacity building sessions on the water related
laws and legislations were conducted with villagers and decision-makers. Water Users’
Associations were facilitated in the planning and management of water resources. The
established water resources management institutions have provided a platform for stakeholders
in the two countries to talk to each other, and work on transboundary management strategies.
The concept of water thirsty crops is now also better understood by stakeholders in the Kenya
part of Mara River Basin. They now know that irrigated crops can represent a threat to the waters
of the Mara, and must be considered carefully. Pressure has mounted on the large-scale farmers
involved in irrigation and the conditions for venturing into irrigated agriculture are now very strict
and clear. For the first time in the history of the Narok District in Kenya, irrigation was banned at
the peak of the drought in February 2006 until the rains set in and there was sufficient water in
the rivers.
A total of 24 Community Based Organisations (CBOs) engaged in Income Generating Activities
(IGA) and technologies to support livelihood and sustainable natural resources use and
conservation were trained.
Justification
Development indicators for the Lake Victoria Basin show that poverty levels in the Mara River
Basin, an important part of the Lake Victoria Basin, are higher than the national averages. Most
of the people practise subsistence agriculture with more than 25 per cent of them living on less
than USD 1 a day. The apparent degradation of the quality and quantity of the Mara River
Basin’s water resources and the poverty level as well as life quality of the inhabitants are
intimately linked. Left uncorrected, the continuing degradation of the Basin will worsen the
livelihoods of these poor people as well as the viability of the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna in
the Mara River Basin. Severe impacts on Masai Mara and Serengeti will be an ecological disaster
as well as an economic disaster for Kenya’s and Tanzania’s tourism income. With properly
designed and implemented interventions, the natural resources of the Basin provide opportunities
for the communities to secure their livelihoods.
Kenya and Tanzania are at different stages of implementing water sector reforms. The Project will
contribute to the operationalisation of these reforms in a way that ensures traditional groups in
the Mara River Basin are empowered to protect their rights, businesses continue to generate
profits in ways that are environmentally sound while national governments place an economic
value on water. The Project will support the evolution of appropriate institutions in this respect.
Key stakeholders have limited capacity to do this on their own and there is a lack of information
and relevant experience in the region. Stakeholders want WWF to support them to establish a
sound system for water resources management.
The Project will facilitate stakeholders to develop an integrated framework for the management of
the Mara River Basin and its water resources by serving as a catalytic agent for bringing the
various stakeholders to the discussion table to exchange ideas (dialogue) and information for
planning and implementing shared sustainable management and conservation initiatives in for
the Mara River Basin. WWF is working closely with government and non-government partners to
do this.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page iv

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
In both Kenya and Tanzania, the Mara River Basin and its natural resources face major threats,
including deforestation, water pollution, drainage of wetlands, land use changes, and poor
management and weak governance relating to natural resources.
The Project will contribute to work in relation to national policies and legislation, international
environmental conventions and to regional initiatives such as the East Africa Community (EAC)’s
“Protocol for Sustainable Development of Lake Victoria Basin” and the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)
Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP) Mara River Basin Initiative.
The Project is well placed within the overall priorities of Norwegian development cooperation as
well as within the specific priorities for the region and countries concerned.
Previous experiences
During the first project phase stakeholders acknowledged that the WWF Mara River Basin
Management Initiative has made important progress both in Kenya and Tanzania. However,
during this initial phase, most investments were done in the upstream Kenyan areas of the Basin.
An assessment of the Project’s achievements is shown in the analysis of the project’s Logframe
for January – December 2005 (see main text of the document). The 2005 evaluation also
provides important information about the previous experiences.
Goal and purpose
The Project’s overall goal of the MRBMI is:
‘Ensure good quality and adequate water supply from the Mara River for
sustainable ecosystem functioning and basic human needs’.
The project purpose is:
‘to facilitate participatory and sustainable integrated river basin management
(IRBM) initiatives for the conservation, sustainable and equitable use and
restoration of freshwater resources and ecological processes in the Mara River
Basin, and this should be resulting from conservation measures, sustainable
use and land-use decisions taken by resource owners, users and developers
under a supportive policy framework’.
Outputs
The Project will contribute to the above goal and achieve its purpose by delivering on the
following outputs:
i. Carry out baseline surveys and as far as possible fill information gaps with
documentation in the form of reports, maps etc;
ii.
iii.
Gather and disseminate appropriate information on conditions and threats to the Mara
River Basin for land-use planning and management of the Mara River Basin and raise
awareness about the importance of catchment management;
Facilitate the ongoing process of stakeholder dialogue on integrated water resources
management, ranging from local people to high level policy makers, and support local
people’s involvement in the inter-sectoral IRBM 5 dialogue through capacity-building and
advocacy;
5 IRBM is a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related
resources in a river basin in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner
without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems (Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Group
Working Paper 4. 2002)
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page v

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
iv.
Start and facilitate a process to introduce or revive existing community organisations,
where forums and working groups have been established, and management actions in
the catchment are becoming more sustainable;
v. Document best practices and failures in terms of sustainable management and
conservation, and promote the sharing and exchange of these lessons through
demonstrating measures in the field, community exchange visits and communication
measures;
vi.
vii.
Build capacity amongst key stakeholders including vulnerable groups (small scale
farmers, poor urban dwellers and women) for effective and sustainable IRBM; and
Develop and promote recommendations for the development of an integrated water
resource management strategy for the Mara River Basin, including appropriate policies
and laws to secure sustainable management and conservation.
Activities towards each of the above listed outputs are described in the main text of this proposal.
The NBI NELSAP Mara Project is now in its initial stage and has established an office in
Musoma, Tanzania. Once this project is fully operational it is recommended that the outputs and
activities be reviewed and, if necessary, modified to minimise overlap between the two projects
and to develop synergies.
Project Implementation
The Project takes an integrated river basin management (IRBM) approach. The IRBM approach
requires that the Project combines activities in the field level with policy work both at the national
and regional levels for the transboundary Mara River Basin. This approach follows from a
realisation by WWF and others in the region that it would be important to engage with
stakeholders at the local level (field level) at the same time as working at the national and later to
regional policy dialogue/negotiations on frameworks for integrated management of the Mara River
Basin.
WWF-Norway has the overall responsibility for the Project and the administrative, financial and
technical reporting to Norad and provides policy and technical support to the Project. Day-to-daymanagement
of the Project in the region is the responsibility of WWF Eastern Africa Regional
Programme Office (EARPO) with its staff in Kenya (Nairobi, Narok) and Tanzania (Musoma, Dar
es Salaam). The Project maintains links established with the WWF Global Freshwater, including
the WWF River Basin Portfolio, WWF-Norway and USAID in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and United
State of America.
In addition to close links with a range of local level non-government partners and stakeholders,
cooperation with government institutions at national, catchment/basin and local levels will
continue as key components of the Project. Private sector has so far only to a limited extent been
successfully engaged, which necessitate increased efforts in this respect.
Regional agencies and initiatives such as the East African Community (EAC) and now also the
NBI NELSAP are becoming increasingly engaged. The EAC with its Lake Victoria Basin
Commission may well be the long-term institutional home for a transboundary water resources
management mechanism.
A project organisation chart is included in Appendix IV and further description of the
implementation arrangements in chapter 6 of the main text.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page vi

WWF
Annual Plan 2007 – Mara River Basin Management Initiative
Budget
A summary table showing the budgets for 2006–2008 is presented below (all figures in NOK). A
detailed budget is presented in Appendix 1.
Budget item Year 1 (2006) 6 Year 2 (2007) 7 Year 3 (2008) 8 Totals
Norad contribution (90 %) 1,822,500 2,337,308 2,430,000 6,589,808
WWF-Norway contribution (10 %) 202,500 259,701 270,000 732,201
Project Budget (100 %) 2,025,000 2,597,009 2,700,000 7,322,009
Norad 8 % adm. grant to WWF-N. 145,800 186,985 194,400 527,185
Total Norad contribution 1,968,300 2,524,293 2,624,400 7,116,993
6 Amounts for 2006 represent the approved budget.
7 Amounts for 2007 represent the proposed budget.
8 Amounts for 2008 are indicative for the 2008 budget.
WWF SAF Zambezi Chobe fisheries 011006 - main text.doc 2006-10-01 Page vii