WWF SAF Mara River Basin Project Proposal

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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
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WWF SAF Mara River Basin Project Proposal

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