Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Zambia have jointly unveiled a USD 14.5 million (EUR 13.3 million) project to evaluate and tackle threats to the biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika.
The “Biodiversity Conservation, Sustainable Land Management, and Enhanced Water Security in Lake Tanganyika Basin” project, unveiled in late February and financed by multilateral environmental fund Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to promote sustainable and harmonized fishing practices on the transboundary freshwater lake. Cccording to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Lake Tanganyika’s biodiversity is “under serious threat, exacerbated by increasing human populations, their intensified usage of natural resources, and climate change.”
“Through this transformative project, we are taking concrete steps to reverse biodiversity loss, promote sustainable fisheries, and restore the health of the lake for current and future generations,” said Sylvain Mukanga, the executive director of the Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA), an intergovernmental organization that coordinates lake management efforts.
The five-year initiative is the culmination of a series of investments made by the GEF, which first endorsed a Strategic Action Program (SAP) for the lake in 2000. The SAP was then revised in 2012 by the four countries that border the lake. In addition to GEF investments, the United Nations Office for Project Services will help execute the project’s goals in partnership with the LTA.
To protect the lake’s biodiversity, the project will outline strict regulations on fishing gear, such as net mesh sizes, and fishing quotas in an attempt to identify and address transboundary threats to fish stocks.
The project also intends to support the four countries in enacting measures to conserve three protected areas within the Lake Tanganyika basin, including a national park in Burundi, a natural reserve in DRC, and a game reserve in Tanzania...
