World Lake Vision Action Report Project
-A Support to implementation of the Sustainable Lake Basin Management-
Duration
January 2006 - March 2007
Output
World Lake Vision Action Report (WLV Action Report)
Project overview
The millions of natural and manmade lakes are a primary source and storehouse of much of humanity's readily-accessible freshwater, collectively containing more than 90% of the liquid freshwater on our planet's surface at any given instant. Their relative ease of accessibility ensures their use for a wider range of human purposes than virtually any other freshwater source, including drinking water, agricultural irrigation, fisheries, recreation, hydropower generation, tourism, transportation and aesthetic quality. Compared to rivers, wetlands and other freshwater resources, however, they also exhibit unique characteristics that make it difficult to manage them in a way that ensures their sustainable use. Their storage capacity ensures they contain large volumes of water for extended periods, serving as a sink for the natural minerals and sediments draining into them, as well as the pollutants generated as a result of human activities on their surrounding drainage basins.
The need to manage freshwater resources in an integrated manner in order to facilitate their sustainable use has been addressed to varying degrees in previous international dialogues, examples including the Dublin Principles, Agenda 21 and the World Water Vision. None of these past efforts, however, adequately addressed the unique features of lakes that must be considered in managing them for sustainable use. This is particularly important because their wide range of human uses ensures they also represent more potential water use conflicts than other freshwater sources. This management void was recognized with the development of the World Lake Vision, unveiled at the 3rd World Water Forum. The World Lake Vision examined the unique properties of lakes within the context of their management needs, highlighted the water quantity and quality threats to them, as well as the underlying socioeconomic root causes, and prescribed a number of general approaches for addressing these threats. It also promulgated seven guiding Principles for lake management, which provided general guidance for lake managers and stakeholders. The World Lake Vision was followed by the Lake Basin Management Initiative, unveiled at the 11th World Lake Conference. This latter initiative examined and highlighted "lessons learned" from 28 lakes and reservoirs around the world that had experienced management interventions of varying kinds.
What is still lacking, however, is the integration of the principles and lessons from these above efforts into a practical action program that can be tailored to specific lake management needs, whatever the nature of the threats facing them. It is the purpose of this World Lake Vision Action Project, therefore, to fill this critical void, thereby ensuring these important water sources can be used both to meet present human needs, while also being available for future generations as well.
Implementing scheme
1) World Lake Vision Action Report Committee
- Established at WWF4 (Mexico City, Mexico)
- Chairman: Walter Rast
World Lake Vision Action Report Committee Membership
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Walter Rast (Chairman) | Professor, Texas State University (USA) |
| Vicente Santiago | Water Office, UNEP-IETC |
| Richard Robarts | Director, GEMS/Water, NHRC (Canada) |
| Libor Jansky | Environment and Sustainable Development Programme (ESD), United Nations University (UNU) Comenius University, Slovakia |
| Marion Hammerl | Global Nature Fund /Living Lakes |
| Aitken Clark | Global Nature Fund /Living Lakes |
| James W. Thorsell | IUCN (Mexico) |
| Aurora Michel | Foreign Business Director Actinver-LLoyd |
| Alejandro Juárez Aguilar | Corazón de la Tierra, A.C. (Mexico) |
| Dale Palfrey | Freelance writer |
| Juan Skinner | Lake Atitlan Environmental Protection Society (Guatemala) |
| Jeff Thornton | Principal Planner, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission |
| Buzz Hoer | Lake Champlain Basin Program (USA) |
| David Kuria | ITDG-Practical Action (Kenya) |
| Chris H.D. Magadza | University of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) |
| Eric Odada | University of Naiobi (Kenya) |
| Adelina Santos-Borja | Division Chief, Lake Laguna Development Authority (Philippines) |
| Dongil Seo | Chungnam National University (Korea) |
| Gusti Z Anshari | Lecturere, Tanjungpura University, Indonesia & Chairman of Yayasan Konservasi Borneo (YKB) |
| Kodarkar Mohan | Indian Association of Aquatic Bilogists (India) |
| Sven Jørgensen | DFH (Denmark) |
| Nick Aladin | Russian Academy of Science (Russia) |
| Motokazu Ando | Professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture (Japan) |
| Shinji Ide | Professor, The University of Shiga Prefecture (Japan) |
| Yousuke Yamashiki | Nihon University (Japan) |
| Yukiko Ikeda | Shiga Prefectural Government (Japan) |
| Saburo Matsui | Emeritus Professor, Kyoto University (Japan) |
| Masahisa Nakamura | Professor, Shiga University (Japan) |
2) Secretariat office and contact 1091 Oroshimo-cho, Kusatsu city, Shiga
Work (Roadmap)
| Time | Main event | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | October | Announcement of Project | At 11th World Lake Conference in Nairobi (WLV Special Session) |
| 2006 | March | WLV Action Report Committee Established | At 4th World Water Forum (Mexico City) |
| April -July | Call for Case Study Reports/ | ||
| July –November | Review of Case Study Reports | By WLV Action Report Committee members | |
| November –December | WLV-Action Report Working Group Meeting | * Discussion on the contents of the Report (Lessons Learned, Way Forward) | |
| 2007 | January -March | Editing of the Report | |
| March | Printing | ||
World Vision Action Report
A showcase of best lake management practices to promote further implementation of World lake Vision.
| Language | English |
| Publisher | World Lake Vision Action Report Committee |
| Copyright | International Lake Environment Committee |
| Style/Format | A4, 393 pages (Color for cover only) Font: Times New Roman |
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