With a population of over 10 million people, the Lake Tanganyika Basin is internationally recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot. However, the lake’s biodiversity is under serious threat, worsened by increasing human populations and their intensified use of natural resources, and climate change.

To address this, the governments of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia have launched a five-year, $14.5 million project to assess and address transboundary threats to the biodiversity of the Lake Tanganyika Basin. The project will protect core conservation zones in three identified protected areas and promote sustainable natural resource use in protected areas and their buffer zones.

Funded by the Global Environment Facility, the UN Environment Programme-led project will be implemented by UNOPS, in partnership with the Lake Tanganyika Authority.

“Through this transformative project, we are taking concrete steps to reverse biodiversity loss, promote sustainable fisheries, and restore the health of the lake for current and future generations,” stated Sylvain Tusanga Mukanga, Executive Director of the Lake Tanganyika Authority.

The project will promote sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation and the restoration of degraded landscapes in the basin. It builds on the collaborative partnership foundation laid by the Convention on the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika and the contracting states that was adopted in 2003.

“We have a moral duty to safeguard nature,” said Doreen Robinson, Head of Biodiversity and Land Branch, UN Environment Programme. “[...] I am encouraged by this bold step taken by the four countries to launch this nature-positive initiative to reverse land degradation and protect vital biodiversity in the Lake Tanganyika Basin.”

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