The Regional Great Lakes Forum on Freshwater Ecosystems brought together 75 representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector as well as experts in freshwater services in the Great Lakes region, who expressed their concern over the scattered management of freshwater ecosystems across the region and called for addressing the threats affecting freshwater services.
25 February 2013: The Regional Great Lakes Forum on Freshwater Ecosystems brought together 75 representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector, as well as experts in freshwater services in the Great Lakes region, who expressed their concern over the scattered management of freshwater ecosystems across the region and called for addressing the threats affecting freshwater services.
The Forum, which was held in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21-22 February 2013, was organized by the Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) in partnership with the Lake Tanganyika Authority, the Ramsar Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Nile Basin Discourse, BirdLife International and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Eastern and Southern Africa Programme Office), in the framework of the MacArthur-funded project termed “Stakeholders Engagement for Informed Decision-Making, Threats Mitigation and Sustainable Freshwater Services Management in the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa.”
Forum participants adopted a series of recommendations, in which they call for, inter alia: holding regularly the “Great Lakes Regional Forum on Freshwater Ecosystems;” advocating for the harmonization of policies for holistic management of freshwater ecosystems in the Great Lakes region; advocating for sustainable practices and development investments integrating community livelihoods needs and preservation of biodiversity; involving community participation in freshwater ecosystem management; promoting research and information sharing within the Great Lakes region through joint projects; and requesting ARCOS to develop a communication strategy for better sharing the information on the status of freshwater ecosystems of the Great Lakes region.
ARCOS is a regional conservation non-profit organization that aims to enhance conservation of critical ecosystems and promote sustainable development in the Albertine Rift through collaborative actions between various partners in the region. [ARCOS Website] [ARCOS Press Release] [Recommendations from the Forum]