Data and Information on Environment and Related Issues in Eastern Nile Sub-Basin in Sudan
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Data and Information on Environment and Related issues in Eastern Nile Sub-Basin in Sudan ENTRO (Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office) Draft Prepared by Dr. Balgis M.E. Osman Elasha , 2006 1 Disclaimer This Consultants report does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Easter Nile technical Regional Office (ENTRO) or any institution of the Eastern Nile Countries. The designation employed in the maps and the presentation of the material in this document does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Eastern Nile Technical Office concerning the legal or constitutional status of any administrative region, state or Governorate ,country, or concerning the delimitation of any frontier. Draft TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 1.1Introduction 6 1.1.1Objective 6 1.1.2What is Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program? 6 1.1.3Approach to preparing the assessment report 7 2.0NATIONAL LEVEL ASSESSMENT 9 2.1Basic Geographic Profile of Sudan: 9 2.2 Food Security situation: 9 2.3Environmental profile: 10 2.3.1Environmental Sustainability Index: 10 2.3.2The key driving forces of the continued environmental degradation 11 2.3.3Source: Ministry of Agriculture, NDDU, 1999 16 3.0ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL SETTING 18 3.1National Institutions: 18 3.1.1The Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR) 18 3.1.2Wildlife Conservation General Administration (WCGA) 21 3.1.3Institute of Environmental Studies (IES), University of Khartoum 22 3.1.4Non Government Organizations 23 3.1.5Traditional institutions 24 3.2National policies and action plans 25 3.2.1The 25 Year Strategic Plan (2003 – 2027) contains five sectors 25 3.2.2The National Comprehensive Strategy (NCS) (1992-2002) 26 3.2.3National Economic Salvation Program (NESP) (1992-1993) 26 3.2.4The Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) (2005) 26 3.2.5Towards Poverty Reduction Strategy (2000) 27 3.2.6Environment Protection Act 2001 27 3.2.7National Water Policy Draft(2001)/Draft 28 3.2.8Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA 29 3.3 National strategies in response to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) 29 3.3.1Agenda 21 Project - Sudan 29 3.3.2National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 30 3.3.3Tards National implementation Strategy for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 30 3.3.4Assessment of Impacts and Adaptation to Climate Change (AIACC-AF14) 31 3.3.5National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Desertification 31 3.3.6Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 31 3 4.0 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION BY SUB-BASIN 32 4.1 The River Nile/ an overview 32 4.2 Eastern Nile sub-Basin in Sudan 34 4.2.1Main River Nile 35 4.2.2Nahr Atbara 37 4.2.3Blue Nile sub basin: 39 4.2.4Rahad River sub-basin 41 4.2.5White Nile (Nil Abiad) sub-basin 43 4.2.6Sobat River Sub-basin 44 4.3 Forests, soils, protected areas and wetlands (See map of River Nile system) 45 4.3.1 Riverain forests 46 4.3.2Protected areas with transboundary significance: 46 4.4 Irrigated Agriculture in the sub-basin (See table 3 ) 49 5.0ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINS/BASIN LEVEL ASSESSMENT 52 5.1Water-logging/ Salinity/ Sodicity 52 Original storage 53 5.2Pesticides for pest control 53 5.3Dam Safety 54 6.0BIODIVERSITY RELATED TO WATER 55 7.0 SPECIAL WATER-RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 57 7.1Water management 57 7.2Water Pollution: 59 7.3Climate Change impact: 60 8.0 IMPACTS OF POSSIBLEDraft MAJOR DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES ON THE EASTERN NILE: 60 8.1A broad environmental perspective on the need for and concerns related to multi- purpose water resources development in the Eastern Nile Basin. 60_Toc 134099430 _Toc1340994358.26 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ENVISAGED IN THE CONSIDERATION OF SPECIFIC MAJOR POTENTIAL MULTIPURPOSE DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS ON THE EASTERN NILE 61 8.2.1Hydropower Development and Pooling 62 8.2.2Watershed management 64 8.2.3Sustainable management of wetlands and biodiversity conservation/ protection of wildlife 64 4 8.2.4Flood management 65 8.2.5Food security in the region 66 8.2.6Regional energy networks 66 8.2.7Disaster forecasting and management 67 8.2.8Spatial Analysis Support for Integrated Rural Development Easttern Nile Sub- Basin 67 8.2.9Priority areas for intervention identified in Lower Atbara: 68 8.3 Key consideration in developing environment assessment 69 9.0 MAPS 71 9.1Land cover and land use 71 9.2 Soils 78 9.3 Geomorphology 81 4.8 Climate 83 10.0 INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS 86 10.1Policy failures and inadequate institutional capacity 86 10.2 Lack of sufficient budgets 86 10.3 Insufficient Technical capacities 87 11.0 GAPS IN ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE BASE 87 12.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK 88 13.0 REFERENCES 101 Annex (19) Geographical Boundaries of the sources of the River Nile Basin , 2005 108 Annex (21) Nile River System,Draft 2005 108 Annex (21) Nile River System, 2005 109 Annex (22) General North-South slope of the River Nile, 2005 110 Annex (24) Sudan : administrative divisions, 2005 118 5 I. Report Outline: • Section I: Introduction. This section will give definitions, frame the aims, issues, and expected outcomes of the report. While straightforward, it will essential that this section adequately summarize the range of information upon which the report is based, and what the report aims to achieve • Section II: National –Level Assessment : Covering environment related policies and institutions , legislations , International Environmental initiatives and the national responses • Section III Basin-level assessment of the Eastern Nile in Sudan • Section IV Potential impacts of possible major development opportunities in the Eastern Nile • Section V :Conclusions and recommendations for further work 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Objective The objective of this consultancy is to compile essential baseline information on environment and highlight major environmental and related issues in the Eastern Nile (EN) sub-basins that will be used to support analysis for the identification of multipurpose development opportunities under the EN Multipurpose Development Program. The work also includes the preparation of a report on the data/information gathered, including commentsDraft on data quality, and annotated list of references 1.1.2 What is Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program? A key part of Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Subsidiary Action Program is the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP), covering the Nile and its tributaries in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan (Baro-Akobo-Sobat, Blue Nile, Tekezze- Settit-Atbara, portions of the White Nile in Sudan, and the Main Nile). ENSAP seeks to implement the goals of NBI’s Shared Vision Program of poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental protection, while also identifying potential investment opportunities at the sub-basin level. The Eastern Nile Technical Regional 6 Office (ENTRO) is the implementing arm of ENSAP, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 1.1.3 Approach to preparing the assessment report With the belief that the brief description provided in the contract for each section of the annotated outline to the Report is a useful starting structure for drawing out essential points. It seems that this basic structure can serve as a useful framework for developing conclusions regarding state of environment, data gaps, legislations and policies . Overall, the aim in writing the report will be to strike a balance between overview, analysis and recommendations for future work. To help make this approach clear, a sketch diagram was drawn showing the different levels and types of the required information. Draft 7 Schematic Diagram of the Assessment Work Conceptual Framework: National level Baseline Environmental Regulatory and Institutional Setting Policy/Legislative Status of environmental Instit. assessment framework and knowledge base (coverage, Human Resources programs quality, access, major Endowment & knowledge gaps) Distribution Environmental status Basin level Dam Safety Climate NR base/Biodiversity Pollution Waste water Impacts of Possible Major Development Opportunities on the Eastern Nile Population Property rights pressure and institutions Knowledge & Infrastructure technology & marketing Other Outputs Maps and tables Draft Climate Land cover &use Geomorphology Soils Comments on Data Quality and Key Knowledge Gaps Conclusions and Recommendations for Further Work List of annotated references 8 2.0 NATIONAL LEVEL ASSESSMENT 2.1 Basic Geographic Profile of Sudan: Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea Geographic co-ordinates: 4-22°N and 22-36°E latitude Area • total: 2,505,810 sq km water: 129,810 sq km land: 2.376 million sq km Land boundaries total: 7,687 km Boarder countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km Length of Coastline (km): 853 km Maritime claims: Contiguous zone: 18 NM Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM Climate: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November) Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in far south, northeast and west; desert dominates the north Natural resources: AgriculturalDraft lands, River Nile (the largest in Africa) Forest trees and rangelands. Mineral Resources include: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, hydropower petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, and gold. 2.2 Food Security situation: Food security takes priority over all parameters of human development. Since cereals constitute the main item of Sudanese food, agriculture figures prominently in food 9 security and the value of exports excluding petroleum exports, and about 48% of the GDP, in addition to the provision of raw materials for over 85% of the manufacturing industries. The paradox is that the Sudan, which has been described as the bread basket of the Arab countries, faces recurrent famines in many of its states.