Decentralised small water retention measures are important sources of water during dry periods in Central and Eastern Europe, according to drought experts who met on 28-29 October in Warsaw, Poland.
Large scale projects in Slovakia caused negative effects in terms of biodiversity losses and reduced floodplain ecosystem functions. To combat this, a project “Integration of Ecosystem Management Principles and Practices into Land and water Management” of Laborec-Uh region was initiated. This case illustrates the importance of accounting for both biodiversity and economic returns when developing projects.
Many dialogues and seminars on river pollution have been organised over the past 20 years. Generally there is an agreement that countries desperately need to do something about the sad state of rivers, especially in countries which hope to achieve developed nation status by 2020.
GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.
The Veluwe Randmeren lakes in the Netherlands were negatively affected by the discharge of phosphates and nitrates from agriculture and household use. Furthermore, increase in population pressure posed further challenges. To address these issues, a group consisting of national and local authorities undertook a project, which gradually increased the water quality. The case study demonstrates the importance of allowing integration among stakeholder groups.
