The work of the PRESA project could form the basis of a larger programme by partners in Mount Kenya East who aim at conserving the entire Tana River catchment in central Kenya.

Left to right: Peter Ngubu (Water Resources Management Authority - Kenya), Bernadette Neves (IFAD reviewer), Boro Gathuo (Green Water Credits) and Delia Catacutan (World Agroforestry Centre) during a stopover at the Thiba River catchment.

A reviewer from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was in Kenya late July to find out exactly how payments for watershed services could work in such a programme.

Ms Bernadette Neves held exploratory discussions with the PRESA and Green Water Credits teams in Nairobi. She also met officers of the Mount Kenya East Pilot Programme for Natural Resource Management (MKEPP) in Embu.

During her trip, Ms Neves met Kenya government officials and visited local communities in various parts of the Upper Tana catchment.
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The PRESA project is halfway through its life as of August 2010. We have received many inquiries on what PRESA is doing at its sites.

Since inception, PRESA has conducted baseline analysis, socio-economic surveys and assessments of potential environmental services. The surveys were done with the help of site partners and student researchers. This article is a summary of the key findings of that work.
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Agricultural and industrial activities are polluting Lake Victoria with vast amounts of soil and chemicals. Since fishing is a major business in the lake, interventions that mitigate soil erosion and pollution in river basins are necessary to secure the future of the fishing industry and thus, the livelihoods of millions of people.

A deep gulley caused by erosion in the Nyando basin, Kenya.

The PRESA project is focusing on the Nyando and Yala river basins whose catchments are the cause of the problems mentioned above.

By using reward or transfer schemes for environmental services, PRESA partners intend to connect groups that depend on the lake with groups whose activities influence the lake’s health.
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The Usambara Mountains are an important source of water for north eastern Tanzania. The towns of Lushoto, Mombo, Korogwe, Muheza and Tanga rely on water from the Usambara Mountains. The Pangani River, which flows from Mt Kilimanjaro, receives significant inflows from the Usambaras. The river is used for irrigating farms and powering a series of hydro electric stations.

A homestead on the forest line at the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. (PHOTO: J. Jabbour)

Deforestation, poor land management practices and inadequate funds for watershed management pose a threat to the long term supply of quality water from the Usambaras to downstream communities. The direct adverse impacts are immediately seen in agricultural production, municipal water supply and hydropower generation.

The PRESA project is working with site partners to link upland farming communities with urban water utilities, hydro-power generators and downstream agricultural producers. This will result in greater co-operation for restoring and sustaining a healthy catchment ecosystem.

PRESA’s main partner in the Usambaras is the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) working closely with the African Highlands Initiative (AHI).
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The Fouta Djallon highlands in the Republic of Guinea are the source of West Africa’s most important rivers: the Senegal, Gambia, Niger and Mano rivers.

A meeting with a Fouta Djallon community. (PHOTO: S. Ngendakumana)

These rivers provide drinking water, irrigation and hydroelectric power to millions of people in Senegal, Mauritania, Gambia, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. They are critical for sustaining livelihood systems which are now affected by ecosystem degradation.

Policymakers across Fouta Djallon countries are interested in adopting reward schemes for environmental services. For instance, Sierra Leonean forestry authorities have highlighted the need to develop rewards-based initiatives as a strategy to better manage the country’s classified forests.

PRESA partners intend to build upon these regional initiatives to lay a social foundation for the design, piloting and scaling up of transfer schemes for environmental services.
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Changing climate and weather patterns are predicted to have severe negative impacts on food production, food security and natural resources in East Africa. Without appropriate responses, climate change is likely to constrain economic development and poverty reduction efforts and exacerbate already pressing difficulties.

Climate change is expected to worsen the instances of flooding and drought. This picture was taken in Kenya when the country experienced a severe drought from 2007 to 2009.

Countries with economies rooted in climate sensitive sectors like agriculture, fisheries and forestry are expected to be especially hard hit. Targets defined in the Millennium Development Goals will be more difficult to reach.

In order to develop an understanding of climate change adaptation concepts, the Wageningen University in the Netherlands will host a course titled “Climate change adaptation in agriculture and natural resource management” from 28 February to 11 March 2010.

The course will enable participants to effectively and meaningfully contribute to debate on climate change adaptation, either in the policy process or in providing knowledge to the policy process. They will strengthen their positions in these processes on the basis of newly acquired concepts, skills and methodologies.

This course is developed through a partnership between Wageningen University and Research centre (Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation, Alterra and PRI), the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Please click here for details on course fees and how to apply.

On Thursday, May 20, 2010, environmental service sellers and buyers signed one of the very first environmental service contracts in Kenya. The aim is to secure livelihoods and habitats for biodiversity and economic development in the Lake Naivasha catchment.

Members of the Wanjohi Water Resource Users Association (left and centre) receive a cheque from Mr. Eugene Reeksting (right), Vice Chairman of the Lake Naivasha Water Users Association. PHOTO/Mukele Nyongesa Josephat

With support from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and CARE- Kenya, the contract was signed after a careful process of stakeholder analysis and dialogue followed by identification of environmental service sellers and buyers, trust building, development of a memorandum of understanding and fine tuning seller – buyer negotiations.

The Lake Naivasha environmental services contract is part of a joint WWF and CARE- Kenya scheme known as Equitable Payment for Watershed Services (EPWS). This environmental services scheme is geared towards providing downstream water users with quality water as the environmental service. The water is needed for agriculture, horticulture, ecotourism, fisheries, geothermal power generation and for the timber industry.
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After 2 years of laying a solid scientific foundation to inform the design of rewards for environmental services, PRESA plans to foster the implementation of prototype reward mechanisms this year.

“Communities around PRESA sites should begin receiving actual rewards for environmental services,” says Thomas Yatich, the acting PRESA coordinator.

The goal is to develop and test reward mechanisms with 100 farmers in at least three PRESA sites. The mechanisms will differ across selected sites because of site peculiarities. For example, some sites offer watershed services, while others have already developed a foundation for carbon payments.

This means that implementing reward mechanisms is the main objective for 2010. A table of scheduled activities for all seven sites, has already been published on the PRESA website.
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Individuals and institutions working in payments for environmental services are invited to submit papers to the International Conference on Payments for Ecosystem Services in the Eastern and Central Africa Sub-Region.

Ugandan fishermen near the point where the River Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Jinja. PHOTO/ Dan A'Vard/Flickr

The conference, which runs from 20th to 22nd October 2010 in Jinja (Uganda), aims at addressing the challenges faced in embracing payments for environmental services in Africa.

Conference discussions will focus on watershed management, carbon sequestration, and the institutional and policy issues necessary for implementing sustainable Payment for Environmental Services (PES) schemes.

Keynote speakers will discuss current and emerging environmental issues related to the East and Central African landscapes. They will also talk about the opportunities presented by PES schemes to local communities and for environmental conservation.
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“To guarantee long-term sustainability of a payment or reward for environmental service (ES) project, the principle of equity must be embedded in project design. If we want a system that pays people to look after the environment and we want to make sure that the system lasts, then fairness has to be built into the system from the start.”

Workshop participants interact with local communities in Kenya during a field trip. PHOTO/ RUPES

“As an added layer to transaction costs and contributing to effectiveness, equity should be contextualized and well aligned to the perception of fairness among communities where the project is ongoing. Though being fair might make the system a bit more expensive and complicated, the system will last longer if the communities who are doing the work feel they are being treated fairly.”

That was the conclusion from a three-day workshop organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and CARE in Nairobi, Kenya (14 -16 April 2010).

The workshop was aimed at sharing experiences about promoting a fairer payment system for “environmental services” (such as local communities being paid or rewarded in other ways for protecting or expanding forests) without making such a system more complicated or inefficient.

The participants agreed that there were gaps between theory and practice in managing the so-called “triple trade-offs” (equity-efficiency-effectiveness) in the field of payments or rewards for environmental services.

You can continue reading this story here: http://rupes.worldagroforestry.org/news/detail.327