5 May 2015
GEF, UNEP, FAO Update on Projects in Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal
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The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have provided updates on projects carried out in Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal addressing: natural resources management; agricultural practices and the preservation of wood resources; and mountain gorilla and wetland restoration efforts.

gef_unep_fao28 April 2015: The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have provided updates on projects carried out in Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal addressing: natural resources management; agricultural practices and the preservation of wood resources; and mountain gorilla and wetland restoration efforts.

Following a technical meeting held in Dakar, Senegal, from 8-10 April 2015, of the project titled ‘Fouta Djallon Highlands Integrated Natural Resources Management’ funded by the GEF, national stakeholders and international partners agreed to move the management of the Fouta Djallon Highlands (FDH) into a second phase that will consist of a new six-year project. The project is jointly implemented by UNEP and FAO, together with the African Union (AU). The project’s second phase will be formally launched in November 2015, leading to expected increases in the integrity of FDH ecosystems.

In Burundi, the French non-governmental organization (NGO) Resilience Now is strengthening natural resource management practices in the fragile habitat around Kibira National Park, with support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) through its investment in the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot. Working with DukingiriKibira (Kibira Women Association), Resilience Now led a solutions-sharing workshop, focusing on energy and agriculture. To enhance local communities’ resilience and quality of life, the NGO introduced the concept of permaculture, “an approach to create sustainable human environments through natural and edible landscaping.”

Initiatives to preserve the Rwandan mountain gorilla and wetland restoration efforts in the Nyabarongo-Akagera network and Rugezi are starting to bring environmental, economic and employment benefits. By collaborating with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, Rwanda has helped restore the population of the critically endangered Gorilla beringei graueri, one of the world’s rarest species of gorilla, to a slight increase in the Virunga National Park. As an additional benefit, the scheme to protect the Rwandan mountain gorilla is generating substantial revenues from tourism. Wetland restoration efforts are also resulting in environmental and economic benefits, such as improving livelihoods and creating alternative forms of employment. For example, the Association for the Conservation of Nature in Rwanda is combating the intensive illegal farming along the Nyabarongo River by eliminating agricultural crops and training the local community in the production of high-quality products made from materials harvested sustainably from the wetlands. [Summary of FDH Management Technical Meeting] [GEF Press Release on Burundi Project] [UNEP Press Release on Rwanda Restoration Project]

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