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Engaging Local Communities. Stefano Barchiesi Project Officer, IUCN Water Programme Coordinator, Global Environmental Flows Network IPIECA Biofuels Water Workshop Rome, 9 November 2010. IUCN Water and Nature Initiative (2001-2008). Partnerships for sustainable water.
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Engaging Local Communities Stefano Barchiesi Project Officer, IUCN Water Programme Coordinator, Global Environmental Flows Network IPIECA Biofuels Water Workshop Rome, 9 November 2010
IUCN Water and Nature Initiative (2001-2008) Partnershipsfor sustainable water New national water policies Multi-stakeholder platforms empowered Basin-level water forums New transboundary agreements New income generation for poor people New assets for sustainable livelihoods Reduced vulnerability to climate risks Toolkits drive innovation Major basin financing mobilised
Why to engage – The context • Complex priorities for water allocation – The example of the Pangani River Basin in Tanzania • Fair, effective and sustainable water management requires a multi-stakeholder, negotiated approach • Negotiation plays a central role where multiple stakeholders participate in constructive engagement
Competing priorities and uncertainties • Policy prioritisation: e.g. Tanzania, South Africa, Australia • Allocation needs to address • development • climate change adaptation • implementation realities • uncertainties and work with them
Lessons from practice: Pangani • Water demand to double from 1995 to 2015 • small-scale irrigation • commercial farming • hydropower • Downstream supply declining • population growth • land use intensification • climate change • Perennial seasonal flow • wetland dessication • Community-level conflicts
120 Flow regime 100 Minimumflow 80 Discharge, m3/s 60 40 20 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Days since 1 January, 1991 ‘Environmental flows’ “…the quantity, quality and timing of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems.”
Flow management as a governance tool • 3 years of negotiated steps and social learning • conflict resolution • capacity building • knowledge sharing • new governance arrangements • formation of WUAs • sub-catchment forum • [future] basin-wide forum • stakeholder submissions to PBWB • potential future election of the PBWB
How to engage? – The process • Water governance as a catalyst for durable solutions – The example of the Komadugu Yobe Basin in Nigeria • Water governance is strengthened by using constructive engagement • Cooperative negotiation supports constructive engagement
Komadugu Yobe / Lake Chad • drought – 1979 & 1980 • population 23m, growing at 2.5% • flow declined 35% since 1960s • failed dam & irrigation projects • devastation of agriculture, fisheries • siltation and infestation • rising conflict • institutional paralysis • deeper poverty, increasing vulnerability
Action • Information: water audit • Consensus building: catchment management plan • Governance: water charter • Results : pilot restoration • flows and fish habitat • conflicts resolved • livelihood prospects • Finance: $125m Trust Fund • Scaling: Nigeria IWRM Commission
KYB – A Way Forward • dire situation forced action • (breaking) the cycle of degradation and poverty required: • sharing knowledge • governance reform to build trust, cooperation and empowerment • visible impacts • political engagement • mobilising finance • local, regional and national reach
Resilience shift : KYB / Lake Chad BEFORE AFTER • drought aggravating poverty • failed dam & irrigation projects • siltation & weed infestation • rising conflict • paralysis • shared information • consensus management plan • pilot ecosystem & livelihood restoration • conflict resolution • water charter: participatory governance
Conclusions • Competing priorities and uncertainties make water allocation decisions complex • Environmental flows as a governance tool to support water allocation decisions • Constructive engagement catalyses water solutions that are durable • Good water governance generates adaptive capacity
NEGOTIATE Case Studies www.iucn.org/water/toolkits
The WANI Toolkits Ecosystem services are part of the solution to water problems Improved water governance underpins action Lack of transboundary coordination impairs action
The WANI Toolkits Investment decisions support system approach implementation Appropriate financial incentives support ecosystem approach implementation Empowerment enables participation in action Building consensus legitimates action by actors
Other tools available Doing things differently: Stories about Local Water Governance in Egypt, Jordan and Palestinewww.project.empowers.info/page/3353 www.policy-powertools.org www.gwptoolbox.org
Eflows and biofuel producers? A few suggestions: • Managing water risks from feedstock production to biofuel conversion processes • Data-intensive eflow assessment methodologies for socially and politically contentious watersheds • Characterisation of the local water base for better planning of the bioenergy system