Nigeria Receives Aid To Manage At-Risk Water Ecosystems

World Bank project set to preserve fadama (wetland) areas

The World Bank has agreed to help Nigerians sustain the management of wetlands, known as "fadamas," in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an independent international financial organization headquartered in Washington.

In an April 11 press release, the World Bank announced its involvement in the Second National Fadama Development - Critical Ecosystems Management project. A $10 million grant from GEF will help pay for the development collaboration.

Fadamas are low-lying areas near rivers that become flooded during the rainy season. They are valuable for grazing and agriculture and are important to international biodiversity as breeding grounds for migratory birds.

Nigeria has eight fadama areas, or zones. They include the Sokoto Basin, the Chad Basin, the Middle Niger Basin, the Benue Basin, the Southwestern Zone, the South-Central, the Southeastern and the Basement Complex.

According to the World Bank, poverty in Nigeria is "widespread and a complex challenge." The fadama project will provide a framework for addressing both poverty reduction and the sustainable management of fadama ecosystems, which are vulnerable to bad farming practices that lead to land erosion and water pollution.

To that end, the project "will help develop the capacity for sustainable natural resource management at national, state, local government and community levels and establish an integrated ecosystem management in selected watersheds, through sustainable management of key forest areas, buffer zones and wetlands and improved water management," according to the press release.

The World Bank-GEF collaboration will finance six of the 18 Nigerian states participating in the project and target 400,000 people, who will benefit locally with increased work opportunities, said Simeon Ehui, the World Bank leader of the project.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY

Established in 1991, GEF provides financing to developing countries for environmental projects that also promote jobs for local communities. Its focus includes climate change, biodiversity, international waters and land degradation. It also works to combat desertification and pollution.

Development specialists at the World Bank work with GEF in preparing co-financed projects and supervise their implementation. Since 1991, the bank has helped implement $1,972 billion worth of GEF financing and $3,037 billion in co-financing for GEF projects in 80 countries.

GEF will hostenvironmentalists and policymakers from the public and private sectors and civil society from 176 countries at a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, August 29-30. The meeting will chart "a forward-looking agenda and work program for the GEF, including field visits to GEF-financed projects," according to the GEF Web site

Source: U.S. Department of State

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