Linking freshwater to oceans is not a new integrated management concept. The need to integrate watershed and coastal management has been identified and recommended by different international fora and organizations (eg, UNCED, UNEP-GPA). In the last decade many countries or regions have worked in assessing their issues and needs, designing land based planning, and developing the institutional and/or legal framework for addressing integrated watershed and coastal management (eg, regional protocols on land-based sources of pollution, UNEP-GPA-framed national programs of action, and integrated coastal and watershed management legislation), most of it funded by international cooperation. However, very few countries have effectively been able to fully and permanently implement plans at the national or sub-national level.
Some of the important issues to address for implementation are
- weak institutional structures, which are not able to carry initiatives over from one administration to the next
- lack of capacity (personnel, planning, mechanisms, etc)
- lack of high level commitment
- financial constraints (including duplication of efforts by countries and donors) that are beyond countries’ short/medium-term capacity.
Many national and international resources have been invested over the years in assessing the needs of countries for integrated watershed and coastal management, as well as in developing the necessary frameworks for its implementation. Although useful, these efforts will require that national governments and international donors, from now on, create incentives and emphasize bridging the gap between assessment and full-scale implementation and sustainability.
Source: 4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, Hanoi, Vietnam, 7-11 April, 2008
Policy Brief on Freshwater to Oceans, Pgs 4-5 http://www.thew2o.net/goc2008/freshwater.htm
Danube - Black Sea Basin
Strategic Partnership
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