North Darfur – More than 500 people celebrated World Environment Day (WED) 2016 in North Darfur, under the auspices of the state Ministry of Environment and UN Environment. While the global theme for WED 2016 is ‘Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife Trade’, Sudan opted this year to highlight the link between improved water management and strengthened community resilience to climate change as an issue of acute national importance. The national theme is particularly relevant in light of the poor rains in 2015 and the recent developments in water use and management along the Nile River.
World Environment Day was celebrated at the site of the Seil Gideim earth dam in Wadi El Ku, North Darfur, in order to showcase a ‘real-life’ example of how improved management of limited rainwater can protect communities from the effects of climate variability. This dam – constructed last year as part of UN Environment and partners’ Wadi El Ku Catchment Management Project – has maximized the use of limited rain for agricultural production, and has protected communities and their harvests against the effects of the poor rainy season in 2015. As part of the WED celebrations, communities benefiting from the dam shared personal experiences of how the dam has helped protect their harvests. They also spoke about how the dam brought together people from 20 villages, improving relationships over water and safeguarding food security across villages.
The state Ministry of Environment and local communities led the celebrations, joined and supported by UNEP, Practical Action, civil society, and state government. The state Minister of Environment opened the event, joined by the Commissioner of El Fasher Locality and other senior government representatives. The minister also joined UN Environment and Practical Action in radio broadcasts ahead of the day raising awareness about the environment.
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