The Nile and its main tributaries flow through several large wetlands of great relevance for biodiversity conservation. These wetlands provide important regional and local ecosystem services. Management of the wetlands has a significant impact on the water flow of the Nile; at the same time, the ecosystem services they provide are themselves dependent on a minimum water flow. With the NBI, the riparian countries of the Nile have created a common framework for the coordinated management of the disputed water resources of the Nile.
The NBI Wetland Management Strategy was adopted by the NBI member states in 2013 and its implementation is mainstreamed as a priority field of action into NBI’s Strategic Action Program for 2012 to 2017.
Our work on Wetlands
Nile Basin Initiative is currently implementing transboundary Wetlands Project under the title “Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Ecosystem Services of Wetlands of Transboundary Relevance in the Nile Basin”. This project is funded by German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). NBI is jointly implementing the project with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
The Nile and its main tributaries flow through several large wetlands of great relevance for biodiversity conservation. These wetlands provide important regional and local ecosystem services. Management of the wetlands has a significant impact on the water flow of the Nile; at the same time, the ecosystem services they provide are themselves dependent on a minimum water flow (find out more on our work on Environmental Flows).
The aim of the ongoing project is to strengthen the capacity of the NBI and the riparian states for the management of wetlands of transboundary relevance. At the basin-wide level, the ongoing project aims to increase the knowledge base and strengthen capacity to integrate green infrastructure in river basin planning. The key tool will be basin wetland management framework plan. This will be enhanced by pilot actions in transboundary river basins shared by two countries (especially in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo) and the Sudd (South Sudan).
Wetlands Forum
The Nile Basin Wetlands Forum is aimed at mobilizing state and non-state actors for collective and coordinated collaboration on securing trans-boundary wetlands of Nile Basin under increasing anthropogenic and climate change threats.