ACTO/UNEP/GEF Project- Integrated and sustainable management of transboundary water resources of the Amazon river basin considering variability and climate change
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ACTO / UNEP / GEF Project – Integrated and sustainable management of transboundary water resources of the Amazon river basin considering variability and climate change is a successful regional initiative involving the eight ACTO Member Countries. This project is a good example of the benefits of regional cooperation at the basin level.
Objective
This project aimed to strengthen the institutional framework for the planning and execution of consensual strategic activities for the protection and sustainable management of water resources in the Amazon basin against climate changes experienced by the region. Through a broad participatory process with social and institutional actors, the Project managed to document the needs and interests of the Amazonian society to further propose strategic response mechanisms.
Results and Products
As part of this process, a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) was carried out in each country. Thus, at the regional level, nine priority transboundary problems were consolidated, underpinning the Strategic Actions Program (SAP), the Project’s most important product.
Thus, an attempt was made to prioritize these problems and their root causes through Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) to increase technical capacities and to strengthen national institutions and the ACTO, including adaptation measures against climate change. With the validation of the results achieved by the project – obtaining a new technical and scientific knowledge about the Amazonian basin and having tested response measures of response through pilot projects-, and as a result of a wide regional process, in January 2016, the SAP was technically approved by the 8 ACTO Member Countries.
In this way, the Project contributes to protecting one of the planet’s most important ecosystems, creating an alliance among the countries, the institutions in charge of water and natural resources, the academy and local communities. Total Project Amount: USD 52.2 million with contributions from the GEF of USD 7,000,000 and the contribution of the countries and other donors of USD 45.2 million.
Each thematic component of the Project was divided in sub-projects for specific activities. Therefore, 10 Subprojects were carried out, which in turn involved the realization of seven pilot projects at critical points in the Amazon basin, 12 scientific investigations in addition to the creation of the technological platform of the Integrated Information System and the production of the Atlas of Hydroclimatic vulnerability of the Amazon basin. Additionally, national pilot projects are being implemented in four countries. These products allowed the development of the Strategic Actions Program (SAP), which is the main objective of the Project.
From the activities carried out, the three outstanding products obtained to promote Integrated and Sustainable Management of Water Resources (IWRM) in the region are highlighted:
A Shared Vision of the Amazon Basin designed to understand common priority problems and define future development scenarios for the region considering an IWRM for the Amazon river basin. It involved the analysis of the institutional and legal contexts in each of the countries.
A Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) defined by the nine Priority Transboundary Problems related to water resources and the climatic vulnerability of the basin. It provides the scientific inputs of the Strategic Actions Program.
A Strategic Actions Program (SAP) agreed among ACTO Member Countries, essential for the integrated and sustainable management of transboundary water resources in the Amazon basin.
Likewise, the project identified vulnerable and risky areas in the face of climate change, consolidating a Hydroclimatic Vulnerability Atlas and strengthening the capacity of local governments to adapt and respond to extreme events by: i) implementing risk governance models, ii) tri–national early warning system in border areas, iii) relocation policies for vulnerable populations and iv) productive alternatives in flooded areas, benefiting a total of 475 thousand people.
Additionally, the Project has developed an Integrated Information System (IIS) of the transboundary water resources of the Amazon basin, which will allow the exchange of information related to the Integrated Management of Water Resources (IWRM) in the region.
Finally, the initiative opens up future cooperation perspectives for the knowledge, protection and sustainable management of what is estimated as the planet’s largest Aquifer System, a wealthy and an invaluable strategic water reserve.
It should be noted as an innovative element, that the Project promoted the coordinated use of surface and groundwater in the urban centers of Leticia (Colombia) and Tabatinga (Brazil). These cities share the same aquifer that, in turn, is a subsystem of the large hydrogeological basin of the Amazon Transboundary Aquifer (ATAS). Another innovative element to highlight about the GEF Amazon Project is the integration of the problem of climate change with the comprehensive management of water resources in the Amazon basin.
Results achieved: a contribution from the GEF Amazon Project to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) -Agenda 2030
- The application of the principle of Integrated Management of Water Resources of the Amazon basin for: optimization of water uses, transboundary concerns, measures for adaptation to climate change, policy formulation and strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks , as well as the search for the necessary investments for the agreed strategic actions. (SDG No. 3 and 6)
- The incorporation of the groundwater component in the Integrated Management of Water Resources of the Amazon basin. (SDG No. 6)
- The inclusion of climate variability and change issues in watershed management practices and policies to reduce the vulnerability of populations and ecosystems to extreme weather events. (SDG No. 13)
- Socio-economic benefits for Amazonian communities, through the implementation of agro-technological systems for crops on elevated platforms and fish farming in net tanks, in areas of floodplain forests. (SDG No. 1 y 2).
Strategic Partners
Each country is represented within the GEF Amazonas Project by a government institution as the National Focal Point of the Project. With the completion of the pilot projects, alliances were also created with local government actors, academia, NGOs and communities.
National Focal Points of the GEF Amazonas Project:
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Directorate of Limits and Borders (Bolivia)
- National Water Agency (Brazil)
- Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (Colombia)
- Secretariat of Water (Ecuador)
- Ministries of Public Works and Communication (Guyana)
- National Water Authority (Peru)
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Suriname)
- Ministry of Popular Power for Ecosocialism and Waters (Venezuela)
GEF: Financing agency
UNEP: Implementing agency
ACTO: Executing agency
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