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SGP Thrust -
International Waters |
Projects
involving communities proximate to threatened waterbodies and
transboundary threats to their ecosystems. Priority is placed on
the prevention and control of ecological degradation of critical
habitats (such as wetlands, shallow waters and reefs), of
unsustainable use of marine resources resulting from over
fishing, excessive withdrawal of fresh water and resource
extraction.
GEF/SGP grants will fund projects involving communities
proximate to threatened waterbodies and transboundary threats to
their ecosystems. Priority is placed on the threat posed to
international waters by land-based sources of surface and
groundwater pollution that degrade the quality of international
waters. This means preventing the release of persistent toxic
substances and heavy metals that cannot be neutralized by marine
and freshwater ecosystems, or that accumulate in living
organisms.
High priority is also placed on:
• abatement of common contaminants such as nutrients, biological
contaminants, or sediments that endanger species or threaten
ecosystems;
• prevention and control of ecological degradation of critical
habitats (such as wetlands, shallow waters, and reefs) that
sustain biodiversity; and
• management of unsustainable use of marine resources resulting
from over-fishing, excessive withdrawal of freshwater, and
resource extraction.
Operational
Program 8: Waterbody-based Program
Projects address the priority transboundary environmental
concerns that exist in a specific waterbody, such as a
transboundary river basin or a large marine ecosystem.
Potential eligible
activities:
• support for capacity-building and technical assistance for
species and habitat conservation in fishing and coastal
communities faced with biodiversity loss of critical marine,
river, and lake species.
• provision of sustainable technical and livelihood alternatives
in situations of excessive over-fishing and water resource
extraction.
• small-scale demonstrations of approaches to reducing
transboundary pollutant flows at the local level.
• projects which test approaches to implementing existing
Strategic Action Programmes (SAPs) and National Strategic Action
Programs (NAPs) at the local level.
Operational
Program 9: Integrated Land and Water Multiple Focal Area
These projects involve the integration of land and water resource
management as a means of addressing the degradation of
international waters. They can involve other GEF focal areas as
well as the cross-cutting issue of land degradation
(desertification and deforestation).
Potential eligible
activities:
• participatory inventories and community use assessments of
unique or endangered marine and coastal biodiversity in a joint
biodiversity / international waters multiple focal area project.
• development of integrated freshwater basin-coastal area
management to address the causes and sectoral activities that
endanger the reefs, wetlands, and mangroves that serve as
nursery areas for the ocean's living resources, particularly
transboundary fish stocks
• capacity-building and technical assistance to combat
salinization of coastal soils from over-use of freshwater and
groundwater from transboundary aquifers for irrigation and
household consumption (applicable in border towns and regions).
• projects which test approaches to implementing existing
Strategic Action Programmes (SAPs) and National Strategic Action
Programs (NAPs) at the local level.
Operational Program 10: Contaminant-based Program
This program includes activities that demonstrate ways of overcoming
barriers to the adoption of best practices to limit
contamination of international waters.
Potential eligible
activities:
• community initiatives to eliminate the causes of land and
marine-based sources of pollution, particularly Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPS), nutrients and certain metals.
• reduction of agricultural run-off in the form of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides.
• reduction of industrial waste dumping by promoting reuse and
recycling. |
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