GLOWS has received a new associate award from the USAID East Africa (USAID/EA). The two-year project, entitled Trans-Boundary Water for Biodiversity in the Mara River Basin, responds to REDSO’s biodiversity earmark and will be implemented by WWF’s Eastern Africa Regional Program Office (EARPO) and Tanzania Program Office.

GLOWS will work through partnerships to feature biodiversity issues in efforts to forge a transboundary agreement on shared water resources management between Kenya and Tanzania in the Mara River Basin. The project builds upon ongoing GLOWS efforts and other USAID investments in the Mara-Serengeti Ecoregion, and key partners include the East African Community, the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP) of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Narok County Council (Kenya), Ministry of Water and Irrigation (Kenya), Ministry of Water and Livestock Development (Tanzania), and the Mara River Water Users’ Association (MRWUA).

GLOWS and its partners will:

1. develop a biodiversity action plan for the basin,
2. quantify the environmental flow allocations necessary to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem processes in the Mara-Serengeti Ecoregion,
3. conduct bi-national and regional consultations leading to a regional strategic environmental assessment (SEA), and
4. consult with key stakeholders on the development of an IWRM strategy in the Mara River Basin.

The project also calls for sponsoring a wider stakeholder dialog and promoting the formation of community-based organizations to facilitate the active participation of smaller communities in the process.