LIVING LAKES A GLOBAL NETWORK OF PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE FUTURE U GUIDELINES AND CASE STUDIES FOR IMPROVING LAKE MANAGEMENT CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCING LIVING LAKES 2 GETTING STARTED 4 CASE STUDY: LAKE CONSTANCE 6 LIST OF MEMBERS (see map on page 5) CASE STUDY: LAGUNA DE BAY 8 CASE STUDY: LAKE ST LUCIA 9 Columbia River Wetlands Canada Nestos Lakes Greece CASE STUDY: LA NAVA 10 Mono Lake USA Wetlands of Larache Morocco CASE STUDY: COLUMBIA RIVER 12 Lake Chapala Mexico Lake Victoria Africa WETLANDS Laguna Fuquene Colombia Lake St Lucia South Africa Pantanal Brazil Lake Uluabat Turkey WHAT THIS TOOLKIT Mar Chiquita Argentina The Dead Sea Jordan IS ABOUT The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads England Lake Tengiz Kazakhstan La Nava Spain Lake Baikal Russia Living Lakes is a network of environmental partnership organisations striving for the protection of lakes Lake Constance Germany, Switzerland Lake Poyang-hu China worldwide. The Living Lakes partnership promotes and Austria voluntary international collaboration among organisations Lake Biwa Japan that carry out projects benefiting lakes, people, and Võrtsjärv-Peipsi lake system wildlife. This brochure explains how these partnerships Estonia and Russia Laguna de Bay The Philippines work in practice and Unilever’s role as global sponsor, and suggests ways for businesses, NGOs and others to work Milicz Ponds Poland. Mahakam Lakes Indonesia together to promote lake and wetland quality. MESSAGE FROM THE MESSAGE FROM THE UNILEVER CHAIRMEN GLOBAL NATURE FUND understanding and responding to For Unilever, the world wide operating the demands of specific water ‘Global Partner’ of Living Lakes, it is of catchment areas is the basis for this course a daily matter to deal with Living Lakes toolkit. international exchange and co-operation. Through Unilever’s financial support Making partnerships work is not and managerial input we have been always easy, particularly in regions able to further develop the suffering high water stress, where Living Lakes network. there are often historically entrenched positions, difficult And Living Lakes is growing. According environmental challenges, and to our long-term strategy, by 2005 the many competing demands for a network will comprise about 40 partner scarce resource. The partner lakes lakes and 50 associated members. It is Antony Burgmans Niall FitzGerald and wetlands of the Living Lakes Networking – an almost magic word important to work across a wide range network differ widely in character these days. We are all part of one of partners. What is still more important, Water is a shared resource and its care requires yet have many management issues in common. network or another. We benefit from however, is the quality of the us all to act responsibly. Unilever is playing its part In five selected case studies we illustrate the networks through making contacts, co-operation. Networks are run by – and wants to do more – to help ensure that in practical partnership approach to the exchanging information and learning organisations with people behind them. the future there is enough clean water to meet all improvement of lake conditions, and show how from others, including perhaps people Living Lakes is a ‘personal’ network based our everyday needs. As part of our approach to Unilever has engaged in different ways in support from quite different backgrounds. on confidence and reliability among the the sustainable use of water, Unilever is the of local projects. We hope this toolkit will partners – this applies to lake partners Global Sponsor of Living Lakes, a network of encourage more lakes and wetlands to adopt When the Global Nature Fund created and business partners alike. Mutual environmental partnerships which has now the Living Lakes approach, and promote new the Living Lakes network in 1998, we respect, reliance, and professionalism are grown to represent internationally important and useful partnerships between businesses, were well aware that the co-ordination of attributes of Living Lakes – for a common lakes and wetlands on five continents. Unilever’s NGOs and local authorities in the conservation such an international network would be vision and future. Water Initiative is one of our three sustainability of water resources. more difficult than one might expect. initiatives, the other two being Agriculture An effective exchange of information and and Fisheries. experience requires well-functioning structures and available resources – Working with a wide range of partners, otherwise the expected results and Unilever and an international panel of water synergies do not come off. The network experts developed SWIM, a practical has been growing continuously during management tool to help focus effectively the past five years, and we have learned on sustainable local water management a great deal – thanks to our well-versed projects of all sizes. The structured SWIM partner organisations of the lake regions (Sustainable Water and Integrated Antony Burgmans Niall FitzGerald throughout the world, and thanks to the Marion Hammerl catchment Management) approach to Chairmen of Unilever support of Unilever. President, The Global Nature Fund 1 INTRODUCING LIVING LAKES Living Lakes is a global network of environmental partnership organisations striving for the protection of lakes worldwide. Conservationists at 23 member lakes on five continents are committed to the protection of the lakes in their respective countries. Together with decision makers and businesses, including Unilever as Living Lakes’ Global Partner, this network strives for the preservation of water quality, the habitats of rare animals, migratory birds and plants, and to encourage lake-sensitive economic development by the lake communities. The Living Lakes partnership was established in together – NGOs, local authorities, other 1998 by the Global Nature Fund, an businesses and networks who may have much international foundation for environment and to offer as partners with a shared aim. Unilever’s WHY LAKES ARE IMPORTANT nature based in Germany. Its aim is the management skills can help to drive the protection of fresh water and the sustainable necessary actions required to achieve the best Lakes and wetlands are development of lakes and wetlands of solutions to improve lake conditions. Its among the world’s most international importance. There were four association with individual lake initiatives has important yet threatened founder member lakes: Lake Constance time and again proved useful to its partners in ecosystems. They are a (Bodensee) which is bordered by Austria, leveraging wider business support or gathering precious part of our Germany and Switzerland; Mono Lake in the community support in engaging with lake cultural and natural United States; Lake Biwa in Japan; and South community projects of all sizes and complexities. heritage, providing a rich Africa’s Lake St Lucia. The network was resource for many sponsored by Unilever from the beginning, and Several of these partnership initiatives are human interests and in 1998 Unilever became Living Lakes Global described in this brochure in an attempt to activities, as well as Partner. A number of other companies also indicate the variety of issues involved. being habitats that support Living Lakes as a worldwide network or Sometimes projects are initiated by business, support a vast diversity more locally through individual member lake others by NGOs. There is no one-fits-all of animal and plant life. partnership initiatives. solution, because every lake is different, but Lakes and wetlands there are often issues in common. The store rainfall, subsequently releasing water gradually into the G23 The Indonesian As the Global Partner, Unilever not only experiences of the widely differing Living Lakes ecosystem. They improve the water quality by storing nutrients Mahakam Lakes contributes crucial funding to the global projects suggest possible approaches to setting and toxic substances in their plants and sediments. They are a (above) are the home organisation of Living Lakes but also supports up successful business-NGO relationships with a of the very rare source of renewable resources, such as reeds for construction, partnership projects with individual lakes and common interest in the preservation of lakes Irrawaddy dolphin fish for human consumption and pasture for grazing livestock. wetlands through its local companies. and freshwater. (see map opposite). They are also important for leisure activities. Above all, they are an essential source of freshwater for communities both on the But more than funding, Unilever contributes its lakeside and beyond. management expertise in bringing people 2 G8 Years ago, the Spanish steppe lake La Nava was drained. Thanks to Living Lakes Spanish partners, it is a living lake again. WARREN MARR WARREN G1 Mono Lake (above) G2 Chapala, the largest G7 The British Norfolk G9 Five million people G10 Monks in the G11 Intensive farming is located in the lake of Mexico is under and Suffolk Broads from three countries, Middle Ages created taking water for California Sierra Nevada severe threat of drying (above) are Britain's Germany, Switzerland, the bird paradise of the agriculture is a major and threatened by up within the next only wetland with Austria, take their water Milicz Ponds (above) problem for the Greek excessive diversion of few years if water status equivalent to from Lake Constance. in Poland. Nestos Lakes (above). water from its tributaries consumption is not a national park. G19 Lake Baikal to Los Angeles. drastically reduced. (above), the ‘pearl of Siberia’, is the deepest G3 The wilderness of lake in the world and the Columbia River the home of the rare Wetlands in Canada is G3 Baikal seal. home to several large mammal species such as G1 the grizzly bear. 18 G19 7 G15 G G2 G 10 G20 G4 Laguna Fuquene G9 G G17 is a shallow water lake G8 11 16 situated in the G G 4 14 G21 Colombian Andes at an G G altitude of 2,500 metres. G22 G20 Lake Biwa in Japan (above) suffers from G6 G5 Mar Chiquita in G23 damage associated Argentina is breeding G5 G13 with high resident and ground for up to 50,000 visitor populations.