ILEC'S VISION
ILEC's broad vision is that all lakes
and reservoirs in the world be managed and conserved on a sustainable
basis for the long-term and future benefit of all mankind.
Since this is an extremely broad vision, a more explicit World Lake
Vision, consistent with the World Water Vision recently presented at
the Second World Water Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands, is presently
being developed. In this connection, note that each and every one of
the world lakes is distinct and issues facing each lake differ so that
a clear vision on the future of the world lakes in general and on the
future of individual lakes in particular has not been developed by any
organization. Regardless of location, size or natural/man-made origin,
there are many conflicting interests, uses and senses of value. When
severe conflicts surround the very existence of a particular lake, the
development of a vision for it becomes very difficult.
Management and conservation of lakes and reservoirs is also a dynamic
process, and a vision developed through narrowly focused and conventional
planning approaches, which would likely prove to be static, would probably
not lead to a meaningful and universally valued outlook for the future.
ILEC's Mission
ILEC's mission can be equated to its objectives as outlined in its Articles of Association.These are:
To advance international cooperation for conservation of lake environments and promote environmentally sound management of world lakes through encouraging investigations and research on rational and suitable methods for harmony between environmental management and sustainable development, and scientific knowledge on lake environments internationally
ILEC's Strategies
To achieve ILEC's mission (objectives), the following seven general strategies operate:
- the collection and provision of information and data on environmental aspects of lakes in all parts of the world;
- the promotion of scientific research on environmental management of lakes;
- assistance to developing countries with the environmental management of lakes and the planning of environmentally sound development of lakes;
- the promotion of training on technical and management aspects of lake environments;
- the support of activities on environmentally sound management of lakes, which UNEP promotes for developing countries;
- the promotion of interchange with governmental agencies, regional agencies, and research institutes in the world which undertake international cooperation on environmentally sound lake management; and
- undertaking any other activities which become necessary to achieve the mission of ILEC.
ILEC's Activities
To implement these general strategies, ILEC has undertaken a wide range of activities since its foundation in 1986. The most important of these are:
(i) In collaboration with UNEP and the Japan Environment Corporation it has undertaken a Survey of the State of the World Lakes. This has resulted in: the publication of an Interim Report on the Survey of the State of World Lakes, Vol. 1-5, 1988-1993; the publication of a compact size edition of Data Book of World Lake Environments. Vol. 1. Asia and Oceania (1994), Vol.2. Africa and Europe (1995), Vol. 3. The Americas (1996); and lake data have been computerized and contributions to the GEMS/ Water database made.
(ii) The organization of a World Lake Conference every two years. In this connection, ILEC played a leading role in organizing the 4th Conference in China (September 1990), the 5th Conference in Italy (May 1993), the 6th Conference in Kasumigaura in Japan (October 1995), the 7th Conference in Argentina (October 1997), and the 8th Conference in Denmark (May 1999). Cooperation is in hand for the organization of the 9th Conference in Japan (2001).
(iii) The publication of a Newsletter [in Japanese and English] and a journal which publishes original contributions. The journal, Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management, is published on behalf of ILEC by Blackwell Science, Melbourne and Oxford. It is published quarterly and 5 annual volumes have appeared since its foundation. The editors-in-chief of the journal are Prof S.Matsui and Prof W.D.Williams. All papers are subject to peer review and the journal is covered by the following abstracting and indexing services: Australian Earth Sciences Information System, BIOSIS, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Environmental Periodicals Bibliography, FLUIDEX, GeoArchive, GEOBASE, University Microfilms and Zoological Record. There is an executive editorial panel, and editorial board and an advisory panel.
(iv)The organization and running of Training sessions, Seminars and Workshops. The following have taken place:
Expert Group Workshops in River/ Lake Basin Approaches to Environmentally Sound Management of Water Resources. In cooperation with UNEP, UN Centre for Regional Development, Thai Office of National Environment Board, and Prince of Songkhla University. The first workshop took place in Otsu/Nagoya, Japan, November 1997. The second workshop took place in Bangkok, Thailand, January 1989. The third workshop took place in Otsu/Okazaki, Japan, February 1990.
Technical training course in lake water quality management, Otsu, Japan, January-March, 1990.
Group training course on lake water quality management in cooperation with JICA. This has taken place every year from January to March, 1991-2005. >>list of trainees
Workshops on Lake and Reservoir Environment Management of La Plata River Basin. The first workshop was held in Argentina and Brasil in August 1991; the second workshop was held in Argentina in August 1994.
Training courses on limnology as the basis for lake management. In cooperation with UNEP and Balaton Limnological Research Institute a first course was held in Tihany, Hungary, May-June 1993 and a second course October 1993.
Training course on remote sensing and GIS for lake basin management. In cooperation with UNEP and the Asian Institute of Technology, this was held in Bangkok, Thailand, October 1993.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Group training
"Environmental Education Course Focused on Fresh Water Environment" 2000-2009 >>list of trainees
"Preservation of Marshlands in Southern Iraq" 2005-2008
>>list of trainees
"Integrated Basin Management for Lake Environment" 2006-2009
>>list of trainees
"Water Quality Management in Hussainsagar Lake" 2008
>>list of trainees
"Education Through Nature Experience Focused Waterside" 2008-2009 >>list of trainees
World Bank, Yunnan province (CHINA) ILBM training
March-May 2009
(v)The publication of a book series on Guidelines of Lake Management. In cooperation with UNEP, the following Guideline books have been published:
- 1989. Vol. 1. Principles of Lake Management. Jorgensen and Vollenweider (eds.).
- 1991. Vol. 2. Socio-economic Aspects. Hashimoto (ed.).
- 1990. Vol. 3. Lake Shore Management. Jorgensen (ed.)
- 1992. Vol. 4. Toxic Substances. Matsui (ed.)
- 1993. Vol. 5. Acidification. Jorgensen (ed.)
- 1998. Vol. 6. Inland Saline Waters. Williams and Giussani (eds.)
- 1997. Vol. 8. The World Lakes in Crisis. Jorgensen and Matsui (eds.)
- 1999. Vol. 9. Reservoir Water Quality Management. Straskraba and Tundisi
- 1998. A Focus on Lakes/Rivers in Environmental Education. Jorgensen, Kawashima and Kira (eds.)
Versions of some of these have appeared also in Spanish, Thai, Portuguese, Chinese and French.
(vi)In cooperation with the Japanese Environment Agency, a pilot project on Environmental Education which focused on the aquatic environment was undertaken and involved the participation of six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Thailand, Denmark and Japan. The project involved schools at the secondary and primary level and the development of a training course for teachers. A book, Lake Biwa, was published.
(vii)Several cooperative projects have been undertaken with UNEP/IETC. These have included the publication of the IETC: newsletter
Insight; in Japanese.
(viii)Active participation in a number of international conferences of relevance. These have included:
- Task force meeting, Otsu, Japan, 1990 [How can we save the Aral?]
- IWRS conference, Rabat, Morocco, 1990
- Dublin, 1992
- Tropical Inland waters Conference, Hong Kong, 1991
- Intecol, Columbus, Ohio, 1992
- UNCED, Rio de Janeiro, 1992
- Asian Wetland Symposium, Otsu, 1992
- Second World Water Foru, 2000
- Stockholm Water Symposia, 1991-2000