The celebration of World Environment Day each year on June 5 reminds us of the importance of safeguarding the Earth's resources today so they will be available for future generations.
This year's theme - “Wanted! Seas and Oceans: Dead or Alive?” - calls attention to the need to protect marine environments. Seas and oceans, as well as coastal areas, employ millions of people, provide abundant food and protect natural biodiversity. Yet because of overfishing, ocean dumping and other irresponsible practices, their health and future sustainability are increasingly at risk.
Many rural poor people depend on marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods. Artisanal fishers earn income and provide nutritious fish to the community. Farmers in coastal areas use mangrove forests for timber, to cultivate rice and to breed and catch fish. Boat owners earn money through tourism. As populations grow, so too will the importance of these resources. Already, more than 40 per cent of the world's population lives within 60 kilometres of a coastline, and the number is rising.
IFAD works with communities that rely on marine and coastal resources
A number of IFAD-financed projects are introducing low-cost fishing technologies that increase income while protecting the environment. In the limpid waters of Mozambique in southern Africa , artisanal fishers in Nampula are using larger mesh fishing nets instead of fine-sieved mosquito netting that were scooping up juvenile fish along with larger catch. Policy reforms also expanded the area reserved exclusively for artisanal fishers.
In the Republic of the Gambia , coastal mangrove forests are used to cultivate rice. But flooding had caused naturally occurring pyrite to oxidize, leaving the soils toxic with high acid levels. Rising waters would wash acidity into other areas, killing fish, shellfish and fauna. The IFAD-funded Lowlands Agriculture Development Programme introduced water and soil conservation techniques to limit flooding and reduce soil acidity. Rice yields rose and members of the community began taking a more active role in conservation measures.
How IFAD protects the environment
Helping to maintain the health of marine and coastal areas and other natural resources is one of the ways IFAD enables rural poor people to overcome poverty. IFAD works with impoverished communities in some of the harshest and most remote corners of the world, promoting sustainable water and land management practices that help to meet the goals of global environmental initiatives. Every IFAD project is subjected to an environmental assessment before approval. IFAD also provides its Member States with policy and technical assistance for national and regional programmes.
As an executing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), IFAD works with governments to develop and implement projects that address global environmental concerns. Starting in 2003, IFAD became able to directly access GEF funds for projects addressing land degradation, instead of going through an implementing agency, such as the World Bank. IFAD also hosts the Global Mechanism, which implements the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The Global Mechanism serves as a hub for a dynamic network of partners working together to stop desertification. Thanks to its relationships with these two initiatives, IFAD can assist countries harmed by land degradation to meet their obligations under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
IFAD also hosts the secretariat of the International Land Coalition (ILC). The ILC works to increase access by rural poor people to land and other natural resources by building alliances between development partners, including non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and international organizations. By combining the strengths of these partners, the ILC helps rural poor people to gain better control over the policies and decisions affecting their lives.
