Recent Project Highlights

Meso-American Coral Reef Alliance
In collaboration with the LAC Bureau, the EGAT Bureau, the G-CAP Mission, and the Global Alliance Secretariat, the Water Team has launched the Meso-American Coral Reef alliance,

This balloon fish prefers coral reef habitats.

which will work with several foundations and other partners to promote economically and environmentally sound management of the Meso-American coral reef, the second longest barrier reef in the world. USAID will provide in-country knowledge and program experience in promoting watershed management, hotel pollution prevention practices, environmentally sound tourism practices, and management of biologically important ecosystems. Partners of the initiative thus far include the Comisiòn Centramericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD, a consortium of Central American environment ministers), the United Nations Foundation, the International Coral Reef Alliance Network, World Wildlife Fund, the Coral Reef Alliance, and other nongovernmental organizations and foundations.

Transboundary Watershed Management
The U.S. Government is actively involved in supporting the management of transboundary water resources in many parts of the world. Specific activities include:

• Transboundary Water Resources Management Protocol for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) . USAID has been supporting SADC countries to develop a common water protocol for managing transboundary water resources, primarily in the Zambezi and Limpopo River basins.
• South Caucasus Transboundary Water Resources Management. USAID is working with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia to improve the coordination of watersheds and river basin management and thereby reduce the potential for regional conflict.
• Central Asia Transboundary Water Resources Management (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). USAID has supported the development of transboundary basin planning tools for the Syr Darya River to facilitate decisions on the allocation and distribution of water and energy in the region, and facilitating transboundary water discussions between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. USAID also supports an improved data gathering and communication system to improve decision making on sensitive transboundary water and energy agreements.

Afghanistan
A task order entitled “Assisting Afghanistan to Revitalize Its Irrigated Agriculture” has recently been awarded under the Water IQC. A team of senior Americans and Afghanis will mobilize in June 2003. The team will prioritize areas for rehabilitation of irrigation and other critical agricultural infrastructure, strengthen the relevant strategic planning and policy-making capacity, provide technical support for community service program grants, and establish a technical assistance unit for relevant ministries and nongovernmental organizations. From the broader Water Team perspective, the ANE bureau is using the Engineering IQC to field a three-person team to assess urban water supply and sanitation needs in three or four cities, including Kabul. This team will make recommendations to USAID for interventions to renovate existing infrastructure and the development of engineering designs and feasibility studies for new facilities.

North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Three pilot Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

A Commerson's frogfish rests in a coral in the Lembi Straits off North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

established through the Water Team’s CRM II Indonesia project, Proyek Pesisir, are yielding significant ecological, economic, and infrastructure benefits to the fishermen and coastal communities of North Sulawesi. Coral cover and fish abundance is improving, bomb fishing is on the decline, ecotourism and new agriculture and seaweed farming activities are generating revenues, and numerous infrastructure improvements have been implemented. An additional 24 sites are now looking to establish community MPAs.

Bahia Santa Maria, Gulf of California
CRM II’s “Conservation of Critical Coastal Ecosystems in Mexico” project in the Bahia Santa Maria region of the Gulf of California demonstrates a successful integration of gender equity considerations into resource protection activities through the broadening the stakeholder base, hiring a woman to coordinate outreach and communication activities, and developing female cooperatives to initiate mariculture projects and a shrimp-to-flour project. CRM II linkages to the IUCN gender program led to the first conference on gender and environment in the state of Sinaloa in 2001.