Latin America Hosts Workshop on Eutrophication Management; UNEP IETC to Act as Focal Point for 3rd Water Forum

The majority of lakes and reservoirs in Latin America suffer eutrophication due to nutrient loading — phosphorous, nitrogen, silica and organic matter — originating from point and non-point sources. Eutrophication leads to degraded water quality and reduced biodiversity, and on occasion can cause algae blooms (cyanobacteria) that produce potent toxins, known as mycrocystins. These toxic compounds have been found to cause acute liver damage in cattle, even at very low concentrations, and there are reports of people dying due to the toxin in drinking water.

Eutrophication is closely tied to the interaction between society and aquatic ecosystems. As a result, awareness of numerous factors is fundamental to understanding the eutrophication process, its control and prevention. These include economic development, awareness and participation by citizens in the protection and rational use of water resources, cultural issues, legal and institutional aspects, as well as managerial and technological approaches.

In general, training activities related to eutrophication management fail to consider these factors in combination, leading to unsatisfactory results. In response to this problem, IETC has produced a comprehensive reference book and a student guide that take a comprehensive view of the problem of eutrophication. Regional workshops in Africa and Southeast Asia have already been undertaken using these publications, and the need to undertake a workshop in Latin America has increased as eutrophication has become more apparent in the region’s water bodies.

To this end, in April, IETC and the National Institute of Water (INA) of Argentina ran a training workshop on eutrophication management for the Latin American Region. Thirty national experts on freshwater resources management were trained using IETC publications translated into Spanish by INA. In addition, the training included a special session on modeling using Pilot Version 2.0 (PAMOLARE) produced by IETC, the University of Kyoto and the International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC).

UNEP IETC to Act as Focal Point for 3rd Water Forum

In mid-April, in cooperation with other organisations — including UNESCO, the International Water Association, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Shiga Prefecture and the International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC) — UNEP IETC registered four proposals with the Secretariat of the 3rd World Water Forum (WWF3) for sessions to be held in Kyoto, Osaka, and Shiga, Japan, next March. As the focal point for UNEP, UNEP IETC will be co-convener of the session, “The Future of the World’s Lakes, Principles for Action: Development of World Lake Vision.” The conveners are ILEC, Shiga Prefecture, and others, based on the results of the 9th World Lake Conference held last November in Shiga, Japan. UNEP IETC has now begun accelerating its efforts to prepare for WWF3.