Final Report Summary - INTREPID (Integrated Trans-boundary River Management Policy Development) Maintaining and promoting livelihood in semiarid areas of the world is a challenging issue, due to scarce water resources and extreme temperatures. African regions remain sparsely populated, with the inhabitants depending on plants, animals and, primarily, water for their survival. Therefore, the continuous increase in global population raises concerns over the exploitation of water resources for economic development and social improvement. Numerous research efforts were already undertaken in this direction, focusing on river basin management, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood programmes in Africa. However, progress was usually focusing on a specific sector, in spite of their overlapping, or even conflicting, goals and responsibilities. As a result, most efforts were likely to fail and the complexity and interrelation of the problems was systematically disregarded. The INTREPID project aimed to directly address issues of water management, biodiversity and livelihood programmes by implementing interdisciplinary, international collaboration to integrate relevant research in different fields. A trans-boundary river catchment served as a case study for the project findings, however the expertise on other vulnerable catchments throughout Africa was also taken into consideration. INTREPID specific objectives were to develop a generic, web-hosted information system, to organise a policy forum for African stakeholders and to motivate interregional and international networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration between researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Existing research methodologies, applied policies and management practices were therefore evaluated by a network of catchment based scientists, specialised in biophysics, ecology and socioeconomic issues, in order to promote integrated water resources management (IWRM) solutions. INTREPID highlighted the necessity to enhance environmental security, social security and economic growth so as to achieve the desired improvements. As a result, special attention was necessary with respect to conservation of biological diversity, participatory democracy and growth in income per capita, respectively. The project exploited the relevant experience gained by previous research actions and by the implementation of the European water framework directive (WFD). Firstly, the generic framework for the development of an interactive database was examined, in order to coordinate information and strengthen collaboration between projects, management programmes and the authorities responsible for environmental and livelihood issues within the examined basin. The database target audience included policy makers, researchers, government organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community based organisations (CBOs). Knowledge gaps were successfully identified and future coordination was promoted, while the database was populated including information from both involved countries. Dissemination at international, national and regional levels was additionally facilitated by the organisation of the policy workshop, whose full proceedings were published. The forum intended to infill gaps in the database by accessing unpublished knowledge, to encourage networking and collaboration in the exemplary basin, to promote good practice and, finally, to identify sectors that required further research and to formulate relevant proposals. INTREPID outcomes provided the foundation of a conceptual framework for innovative research efforts, improved policy initiatives and equitable partnerships between key stakeholders in the management of river basins in the semiarid African regions. Moreover, the project established a link to facilitate technology exchange between Africa and Europe, which was of major importance because of the increasing international interest towards the global implementation of sustainable development practices. Related documents Final Report - INTREPID (Integrated Trans-boundary River Management Policy Development)
