The return of the water - IUCN

The project maintained relations with almost all of the non-governmental organisations operating
in the Extreme North Province, mainly for consultation and the exchange of information. These
included: the Organisation Canédienne pour Ia Solidarité et le Développement (OCSD), the Catholic
Mission, Enviro Protect, Service d’Appui aux Initiatives Locales de Développement (SAILD), Save
the Children, the African Institute for Economic and Social Development (INADES) and CARE.
The African Training Centre of INADES also provided training courses on participatory approaches
for field research for the project. On a national level, the project took part in regular consultative
meetings of international NGOs concerned with environmental matters.
The parastatal Société d’Expansion et de Modernisation de Ia Riziculture de Yagoua (SEMRY)
consistently co-operated in the most practical terms with the project, notably in the execution of the
pilot release. This co-operation, which was governed by an Agreement signed in December 1992,
will continue to be essential to the success of the efforts made to restore the floodplain, since SEMRY
will ensure the control of the Djafga canal and the waters of Lake Maga.
The Ecole pour la Formation de Spécialistes de Ia Faune, the international wildlife school based in
Garoua, participated in the organisation and execution of wildlife counts and in the ecological
monitoring. In addition teaching staff from the University of Dschang was heavily involved in the
EIA programme (and have since formed a Cameroonian chapter of the International Association for
Impact Assessment), while others were involved in the ecological programme.
Co-operation with the Centre for Environment and Development Studies in Cameroon (CEDC),
which is administered jointly by the University of Dschang and the University of Leiden, included
participation in CEDC’s specialist training courses by supporting participants, by providing
professional expertise, and by commissioning specific courses. The project was also invited by
CEDC to participate in its own long-term programming.
10.5 Conclusions
The Waza Logone Project in Action
The restoration of the floodplain began with two pilot releases, which coincided with above average
rainfall during the period 1994 to1997. In these years a larger surface area was flooded than during
the years immediately following the SEMRY interventions. The ecological monitoring programme
initiated by the project showed that as a result of re-flooding, perennial grasses returned, and since
grazers prefer perennial grasses, the number of wild herbivores had increased. Socio-economic data
showed improvements in fishing yields and livestock production as a result of increased flooding.
A hydrological model was used to determine the feasibility of additional flood releases on a much
larger scale. In this model man-made changes were treated as independent variables from climatic
effects (increased rainfall and/or channel flow). The expected extent of flooding under a number of
release options was calculated for a number of different climatic scenarios. This was achieved through
a programme of hydrological monitoring and the development of a hydrodynamic model. The model
required a large amount of topographical and hydrological information for it to provide dependable
results that can take years to accumulate. In the case of the Waza Logone project four years of local
hydrological data were collected and regional data over more than forty years utilised. Topographical
surveys took place mainly over a two year period.
The model resulted in an estimate of the extent of flooded areas, which, in conjunction with other
information, allowed an assessment to be made of the effectiveness of the releases in achieving the
restoration objectives. Assessment tools such as Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) formed part of this
process, leading to the recommendation of three possible options for the large-scale release (IUCN,
1999b).
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