The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched an US$8m initiative to protect water resources and biodiversity in the Kilimanjaro region.
This major initiative, led by UNESCO in partnership with the FAO, will be financed by the Global Environment Facility, and will begin with increased support for scientific research. A scientific observation center will be set up to monitor water quality, groundwater levels and the health of ecosystems. It will be founded upon close cooperation between researchers in Kenya and Tanzania. An initial constitutive meeting was held in Arusha in Tanzania. UNESCO also plans to train a further 200 water professionals at the national and local level.
UNESCO experts will map the region’s aquifer systems, with a view to giving an additional 100,000 people direct access to drinking water. The aim will also be to improve groundwater storage and supply during the dry season to benefit 615,000 people who are currently exposed to water shortages.
Cloud forests
UNESCO also intends to support the restoration of ecosystems by reforesting 400km² of cloud forests, which support water retention and replenish groundwater reserves. The organization will help local communities develop sustainable economic activities to prevent further deforestation. UNESCO points out that the ‘water tower’ that is Mount Kilimanjaro suffers from the combined pressures of climate disruption, deforestation and increasing water demand. The melting of its glaciers, which could disappear completely by 2040, combined with increasingly recurrent droughts, threaten the availability of water and the stability of ecosystems in Kenya and Tanzania. The initiative was announced by UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay and is part of the International Year of Glacier Preservation, led by UNESCO and the WMO. The first World Day for Glaciers will be held on March 20.
Azoulay stated, “The melting glaciers of Kilimanjaro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, pose an imminent threat to more than two million people in Tanzania and Kenya. The international community must support the authorities and local populations to protect this vital resource. Our organization will be investing US$8m to this end over the coming years.”
Biosphere reserves
During her meeting with the President of Tanzania, the director-general of UNESCO also reaffirmed the organization’s willingness to support the country’s authorities in the management and development of biosphere reserves – a UNESCO program aimed at restoring the balance in the relationship between human beings and their environment.
In related news, the Department of Commerce and NOAA recently announced US$22.78m in funding to NOAA labs, programs, cooperative institutes and other partners to advance research on a wide range of water-driven climate impacts. Click here to read the full story.