The role that groundwater plays in surface water systems (rivers, wetlands, lakes) has not been adequately considered in most transboundary river basin management initiatives, including the Nile basin, supported by the GEF and other donors. Groundwater supports perennial water supply to many wetlands and stream base flow, which is critical for providing refuge for fauna and maintaining biodiversity. In addition, large wetland areas, such as the Sudd swamp in Sudan, are an important component in the local/regional atmospheric water cycle.

To consolidate and implement an operable biosafety framework for the safe use of biotechnology in El Salvador, in accordance with national priorities and international obligations.

The overall goal is to support Indonesia in implementing the Cartagena Protocol, inline with Agenda 21, the Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the Indonesian Summit on Sustainable Development of 2004, and the National Development Medium Plan 2004-2009

To assist Madagascar to put in place a functional and transparent national biosafety framework, in accordance with national development priorities, and to fulfill its obligations as a Party to the Cartagena Protocol, and other related international instruments.

Specific objectives are to:
1: Assist Madagascar to integrate and incorporate biosafety issues in national programmes and/or strategies on sustainable development.

The objective of this project is to strengthen international cooperation and enhance the development of regional international waters (IW) governance frameworks with a view towards increasing the social, economic and environmental benefits of GEF International Waters projects globally. Through adaptive management decision-making methodologies and collaboration with local experts and practitioners, the project will develop, promote and deliver innovative and targeted experiential learning tools for transboundary water governance.

The GEF has funded one dozen multi-country African freshwater basin projects through foundational-type initial work worth 90 million US$. This proposal for a Medium Size Project (MSP) Grant from the GEF is to assist countries of these African basins to share experiences and catlayze partnerhips toward effecting policy reforms for governance and transitioning to needed investments.

Project Objective: to develop the methodologies for conducting a global assessment of transboundary groundwater, lake/reservoir and river basins, Large Marine Ecosystems, and open ocean areas for GEF purposes and to catalyse a partnership and arrangements for conducting such a global assessment

This MSP proposes to develop a platform for the assessment, integration, exchange and dissemination of scientific information and findings from GEF IW projects, both past and current. Its goal is to enhance the use of science in planning, developing and implementing of new GEF IW projects, and at the same time, to strengthen water science capacity and science-to-management linkages in developing countries. The strategic planning for the IW focal area, undertaken by its Technical Advisory Group, has clearly indicated these activities as a “corporate” GEF need.

The overall objective of the project is to create sustainable capacity within the Cook Islands to enable it to meet its obligations under the Stockholm Convention, including initial preparation of a POPs National Implementation Plan (NIP), and other broader issues of chemicals safety and management as articulated in Chapter 19 of Agenda 21. The National Implementation Plan will outline the action plans that the Cook Islands will be implementing to help it meet its obligations under the Convention to phase-out POPs sources and remediate POPs contaminated sites in the Cook Islands.

Minimize risk to humans and the environment of exposure to POPs through strengthened governmental, institutional and stakeholder capacity for life-cycle management of these substances.