The southern and eastern Mediterranean regions suffer from a major lack of water, with annual water consumption exceeding renewable resources. The wetlands that contain some of these resources were destroyed over the last century due to a failure to recognise their value. A great many communities living near the marshes have thus become impoverished, and do not have much of a say in decisions and planning relating to water resources. Wetlands International has set up a project to improve civil society participation in dialogue with the governments in charge of wetlands and water management.
This regional initiative is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and is set to run until late 2011. The goal is to encourage Mediterranean countries to share their experiences of integrated and participative management of water and environmental safety with the launch and coordination of three projects.
1) In Tunisia, the National Agronomic Institute of Tunis (INAT) is aiming to:
- use dialogue between local partners to build consensus on the allocation of water resources, taking into account the long-term needs of the Ichkeul Lake ecosystems;
- inform and train different interest groups (including women) on the importance of ecosystem functions and the value of wetlands.
2) In Morocco, the WWF Mediterranean Programme (WWF MedPo) and the Sébou Hydraulic Basin Agency (ABHS) are developing:
- a system for assessing and monitoring the ecological condition of the surface water in the Sébou Basin, Morocco’s most important hydrographic basin;
- civil society (particularly NGOs and universities) involvement in water management processes.
3) In Jordan, the project set up by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) consists of:
- defining the water needs of the Mujib Nature Reserve ecosystems and studying the dam situated above the reserve;
- involving the local population in demonstrations of ecological farming practices to ensure the future of the water resource and maintain its quality;
- developing its expertise in water management and in setting up awareness-raising programmes on water resources that target schools and universities.
The Wetlands International team working on this project is based at the Tour du Valat where it benefits from the support and expertise of our teams in implementing actions.
For more information on this project: www.wetlands.org/medwetwat [1]