Lake Chad Basin Commission
Encyclopedia
The Lake Chad Basin Commission is an intergovernmental organization of the countries nearest to Lake Chad
which coordinates actions that might affect the waters of Lake Chad. The organization's secretariat is located in N'Djamena
, Chad.
On May 22, 1964, the four riparians Cameroon
, Niger
, Nigeria
and Chad
signed the Fort Lamy (today N'Djamena
) Convention, creating the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). In March 1994 the CAR became the fifth member of this intergovernmental institution. In July 2000 Sudan was also granted membership; Sudan, however, has yet to ratify the founding convention and therefore has only observer status. Since April 2007 is Libya
a member of the Commission. The LCBC is Africa's oldest river-/lake-basin organization. In its founding document (the Convention and Statutes relating to the Development of the Chad Basin) the parties commit themselves to a shared use of the basin's natural resources.
The Commission has a sub-division the Basin Committee for Strategic Planning (BCSP), there's coordinate the local acivitys between the member stats.
The LCBC controls and observed the hydroactiv regions in the Chad Basin
and called Conventional Basin. The initial conventional basin consisted of approximately 427,500 km² of the total area of the Chad basin in 1964. The definition says it excluded the majority of the terminal depression consisting of desert that provides little or no effective hydrological contribution to the conventional basin. This was subsequently expanded to include additional watersheds in northern Nigeria, southern Chad, and northern Central African Republic, with a current total area of 967,000 km².
The member countries make contributions to the commission's funding based on an agreed-upon key. At present the contributions are assigned as
follows: Nigeria 52 %, Cameroon 26 %, Chad 11 %, Niger 7 %, the Central African Republic 4 % of the commission's US$ 1 million annual budget.
Some projects of the LCBC member countrys are linked with the GEF program
: In November 2002 the LCBC signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, in July 2000 Lake Chad was declared a Transboundary Ramsar Site of International Importance). The aim is to create a network of national and regional conservation areas in the Chad Basin and to set up institutions dedicated to their sustainable management. In this connection the Chad Wetlands Initiative (CHADWET) was launched in June 2003, organized by the Ramsar Bureau and its Mediterranean Coordination Unit. With the support of MEDWET (Mediterranean Wetlands), the Mediterranean branch of the Ramsar Convention, and its Coordination Unit, CHADWET is set to be developed on the model of MEDWET, again in the framework of the GEF program. With a view to obtaining funding, there were plans to present the CHADWET to the Ramsar Conference in November 2005 as a Ramsar Regional Initiative.
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
which coordinates actions that might affect the waters of Lake Chad. The organization's secretariat is located in N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
, Chad.
On May 22, 1964, the four riparians Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
signed the Fort Lamy (today N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
) Convention, creating the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). In March 1994 the CAR became the fifth member of this intergovernmental institution. In July 2000 Sudan was also granted membership; Sudan, however, has yet to ratify the founding convention and therefore has only observer status. Since April 2007 is Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
a member of the Commission. The LCBC is Africa's oldest river-/lake-basin organization. In its founding document (the Convention and Statutes relating to the Development of the Chad Basin) the parties commit themselves to a shared use of the basin's natural resources.
The Commission has a sub-division the Basin Committee for Strategic Planning (BCSP), there's coordinate the local acivitys between the member stats.
The LCBC controls and observed the hydroactiv regions in the Chad Basin
Chad Basin
The Chad Basin, also known as the Lake Chad Basin, is a large lowland area in north-central Africa. In all directions from the center of this area the elevation changes are gentle. The Chad Basin is an endorheic basin - its water does not flow into any ocean...
and called Conventional Basin. The initial conventional basin consisted of approximately 427,500 km² of the total area of the Chad basin in 1964. The definition says it excluded the majority of the terminal depression consisting of desert that provides little or no effective hydrological contribution to the conventional basin. This was subsequently expanded to include additional watersheds in northern Nigeria, southern Chad, and northern Central African Republic, with a current total area of 967,000 km².
The member countries make contributions to the commission's funding based on an agreed-upon key. At present the contributions are assigned as
follows: Nigeria 52 %, Cameroon 26 %, Chad 11 %, Niger 7 %, the Central African Republic 4 % of the commission's US$ 1 million annual budget.
Some projects of the LCBC member countrys are linked with the GEF program
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to...
: In November 2002 the LCBC signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, in July 2000 Lake Chad was declared a Transboundary Ramsar Site of International Importance). The aim is to create a network of national and regional conservation areas in the Chad Basin and to set up institutions dedicated to their sustainable management. In this connection the Chad Wetlands Initiative (CHADWET) was launched in June 2003, organized by the Ramsar Bureau and its Mediterranean Coordination Unit. With the support of MEDWET (Mediterranean Wetlands), the Mediterranean branch of the Ramsar Convention, and its Coordination Unit, CHADWET is set to be developed on the model of MEDWET, again in the framework of the GEF program. With a view to obtaining funding, there were plans to present the CHADWET to the Ramsar Conference in November 2005 as a Ramsar Regional Initiative.