Building Conservancy & Environmentalists Generation for Freshwater Biodiversity

Introduction

Blue Victoria is a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Mwanza Tanzania. The organization is registered under Non-Governmental Organizations Act of 2002 with registration number 00NGO/R/3260. Blue Victoria was founded by youth who come from fishing livelihood background and witnessing ongoing declining of fish species in Lake Victoria. Vision of the Organization is to see coexistence of socioeconomically developed society and Lake Victoria thrived ecological biodiversity.

The Organization has the following objectives;

To raise awareness on presence of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) including Wetlands in Lake Victoria Basin to enhance its ecological system.

To raise awareness for the effects of Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) methods.

To promote and empower Lake Victoria fishers and aquaculture farmers on the use of natural resources from Lake Victoria for blue economic development.

To raise awareness on conservation and restoration of endangered fish species in Lake Victoria.

Problem Statement

Freshwater ecosystems are essential for human survival, providing the majority of people’s drinking water. The ecosystems are home to more than 40 percent of the world’s fish species. Despite their values and importance, many lakes, rivers and wetlands around the world are being severely damaged by human activities and are declining at a much faster rate than terrestrial ecosystems. WWF reported that one third of all freshwater species are at threat of extinction including 61% of freshwater turtles; 40% of amphibians; 30% freshwater fishes; and 43% of freshwater mammals. One quarter of Critical Endangered species are freshwater species. Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world and is the first largest lake in Africa. IUCN reported that freshwater biodiversity in the basin is suffering ongoing decline and the risk of species extinctions is increasing. The ongoing decline in freshwater biodiversity is impacting livelihoods of the rural poor in the basin. The report has shown that 22.6 % of fishes in the lake has been classified as Critical Endangered (CE), 1.7% Endangered (EN), 1.3% Vulnerable (VU), 12.42% Near Threatened (NT), 33.3% Data Deficiency, 28.2% Least Concern (LC), and 0.4% Extinction (EX)

Strategy to Address the Problems

To address the problems, Blue Victoria is conducting awareness programs for freshwater biodiversity in Lake Victoria basin. The Organization is establishing school clubs in schools found in the coastal area of Lake Victoria. In the clubs students are being taught freshwater biodiversity knowledge. Active members of the club are being selected to be freshwater biodiversity ambassador.

Goals

The main goal of this initiative is to build a conservancy and environmentalists generation for freshwater biodiversity.

Join us for this initiatives

Contact through;

Email: bluevictoriatz@gmail.com
Whatssap/Call: +255 759 682 826