The return of the water - IUCN

9
The Waza Logone Project:
History, Objectives and Main Results
By Paul Loth and Hans de Iongh
The previous chapters describe the Logone floodplain at the time the Waza Logone Project started.
This section of the book reviews the history and the objectives of the Waza Logone Project, then
summarises the most significant results achieved up to the end of Phase III, which ended in 2000.
The project started with a trial re-flooding operation, which was extended. The project monitored
the ecological and socio-economic consequences of the pilot releases. The admission of additional
water to the floodplain had widespread ecological consequences for those areas of the floodplain
that were no longer flooded after the dam and the embankments were constructed for the irrigated
rice scheme at Maga. The re-admission of the water increased the amount of fish, and turned the
degraded grasslands into productive dry land pastures again. The project collected enough data,
which enabled the project to model the costs and benefits of different re-flooding options. Re-flooding
would help mitigate the impact of the confinements of the floodwaters of the Logone River.
From its inception the Waza Logone Project was convinced that to be successful, the project should
be fully accepted by the local communities. At the same time that the project was working towards
the restoration of the natural resources of the floodplain, the Waza Logone project concentrated
efforts to ensure active participation of the local communities. The project won local goodwill by
acting as a facilitator to solve conflicts between different user groups over access to the natural
resources of the floodplain.
9.1 Historical background
The Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) of Leiden University in the Netherlands has been
involved in research in the Waza Logone Floodplain since 1986. The first field surveys by CML
staff and students, to study the impact of the Maga dam on the ecology of the floodplain were
implemented during 1986 and 1987, with funds of Leiden University and the European Union. The
surveys showed that the Maga dam had a significant impact on the floodplain vegetation, on fisheries,
wildlife and on nomadic livestock migration.
Based on the preliminary results of these surveys, a project proposal with a modest budget was
submitted to the Directorate-General for International Co-operation (DGIS) of the Netherlands’
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support further studies with the aim to quantify the environmental
impact of the dam. This marked Phase I of the Waza Logone project (WLP). This project finally led
to a number of recommendations pointing towards a major rehabilitation project. The outlines of
this Phase II proposal were drafted jointly by IUCN and CML and submitted to and approved by
DGIS for funding in 1990. The Waza Logone project was established with the objectives of:
• Pursuing the integrated management of the natural resources of the floodplain;
• Providing a sustainable livelihood for local people;
• Maintaining biodiversity, both inside the boundaries of the Waza National Park, and in the
surroundings of the Park.
Phase II started in 1992. Phase III was subsequently approved in 1995, ending in April 2000 (IUCN,
1995). Under a Memorandum of Understanding between IUCN and CML the responsibilities and
tasks in this partnership were further defined. A new Memorandum of Understanding was drafted
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