In close collaboration with the Lake Tanganyika Authority and Zambian partners, the LATAWAMA project invited its technical partners from the 4 countries bordering Lake Tanganyika to an evaluation and foresight workshop in Lusaka, Zambia. The workshop was held in November and hosted members of the management committees alongside different partners involved in implementing the project’s activities. The objectives were to evaluate the achievements of the LATAWAMA project implemented by Enabel and financed by the European Union after the first 3 years of activities. The exchange key points will serve as recommendations to facilitate and improve its implementation and to identify the priority issues and themes to be considered in the framework of the extension of the project towards phase 2 (2024-2029).
The discussions were chaired and moderated by Richard Lungu, LTA Focal person in Zambia.
All the participants recognized the relevance of the project and its activities while underlining the complexity of its implementation within a regional area stretching from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika. The need to implement a monitoring network for Lake Tanganyika and its catchment area is a prerequisite for the implementation of protection policies. Then, phase 2 of the project intends to invest substantially in the environmental monitoring of Lake Tanganyika in terms of quality, biodiversity, and climatic and quantitative data. The financial sustainability of investments in terms of the monitoring network is highlighted as a major concern. Scientific support for the monitoring network is also recommended. The participants insisted on activities to counter anthropic pollution, specifically in terms of solid waste and wastewater management, as well as the fight against deforestation and landscape degradation, which threatens the ecological balance and agricultural potential.
Various online speakers also enriched the debates and presented technical points linked to the Lake-level monitoring project, illustrating the climatic challenges.
