There were concerns that Lake Arenal in Northern Costa Rica was threatened due to problems of deforestation and possible premature sedimentation, leading the government to take action, resulting in successful national and local benefits in terms of energy produced and area irrigated. The most important lesson learned is the importance of consulting all parties involved before initiating the project to achieve the best result.
The Intersectoral roundtable "Country Consultations on Water Speak to post-2015 Agenda" was held on 7 March 2014 in Dushanbe at the Institute of Water Problems, Energy and Environment of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. The roundtable was organized by CWP-Tajikistan jointly with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan under support of GWP CACENA.
The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana) has held the validation meeting for the report on the study entitled “Impacts and Vulnerability assessment of Climate Change in the Upper East Region of Ghana and pathways to Creating Green Solutions and Integrating Climate-Smart Interventions into development Planning”. The program took place at the SSNIT conference room at Bolgatanga on 17th July, 2014 and was chaired by Mr Aduna from the White Volta Basin Office (WVB).
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched its new project “Mega-cities and their Watersheds: Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Drinking Water Sources” on November 26, 2013 in Beijing.
The date of March 21 marked the network development of GWP China to Xiamen University as Prof. Hao Wang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Acting Chair of GWP China and Prof. Yunzhong Jiang, Deputy Coordinator of GWP China were invited to contribute to the College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University in Fujian Province.
China is faced with significant costs regarding floods and degradation of ecological conditions in the Yangtze River basin. As a response, the application of Ecosystem Function Conservation Areas approach has been initiated not only to increase water retention capacity and reduce sediment loads, but also to provide benefits in biodiversity, carbon sequestration and sustainable land management. The key lesson is that success is easier to achieve with positive natural and political conditions.
On July 29, 2014, the Global Water Partnership China had a working meeting with the World Research Institute (WRI) in Beijing to exchange work plan and discuss cooperation proposals.
Due to the growing build-up area and changing land use in the Veluwe nature conservation area, the old water management infrastructure no longer coped. Action was thus taken and the traditional technical solution was replaced by a new integrated approach, which combines nature and landscape conservancy with modern water management. This case highlights the importance of utilising inhabitants’ knowledge when drafting new projects.
GWP SA’s Executive Secretary, Ms Ruth Beukman joined other key stakeholders at the much awaited Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM) Official Launch which was held at Maputo, Mozambique on July 24th 2014. The launch of LIMCOM follows the finalisation of the process of ratification of the Agreement for the establishment of LIMCOM.