Sahel Integrated Lowland Ecosystem Management

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The purpose of the Sahel Integrated Lowland Ecosystem Management Project, is the sustainable improvement in the productive capacity of rural resources (natural, physical, human, and financial) in selected sub-watersheds. It aims at providing local governments, and rural communities with adequate capacity, and incentives for improving the natural resource base, thereby reducing poverty and vulnerability. Local capacity building for integrated ecosystem management will seek to strengthen the technical, and organizational capacity of rural communities, and municipalities to plan, implement and monitor integrated ecosystem management (IEM) activities. Financed activities include awareness building, and training on IEM concepts, land/water use planning, and environmental issues, in addition to the development of watershed management committees. To support such activities, a local investment fund will be developed, and have two windows: one for financing village and inter-village subprojects for watershed management, and, a special window to provide provinces with resources to undertake larger investments. An institutional capacity building for integrated ecosystem management shall provide an adequate policy environment, supporting civil society groups, and decentralized government institutions, so that through policy dialogues, IEM practices would be adopted. Also provided, will be training on information, negotiation and conflict resolution, supply of equipment, and, incremental operating costs. To support this objective, capacities will be strengthened to mobilize national, and international funds to address environmental, and resource management issues of local, regional, and potentially global significance. Project coordination, administration, and monitoring and evaluation activities will be financed.