Progress of the MedWet-INWENT projects in Jordan and Morocco

Water Dialogue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: The objective of the project is to engage local stakeholders involved in the management of water resources, in particular in agriculture, to a dialogue-based planning for the sustainable use of water resources and related wetland ecosystems.

In Jordan, the project is carried out at the Azraq Ramsar site, the institutional partners being  the Ministry of Environment, the Royal Society for Nature Conservation (RSCN) and IUCN-Wescana; the project is using the existing Azraq Management Plan as the entry point for the dialogue process while the establishment of a dialogue forum representing all stakeholders is supervised by a Steering Committee under the Minister of Environment. In the field, a team of national experts is undertaking meetings and group interviews with the dialogue forum’s elected members, in order to identify and analyze the possible options and scenarios for a participative and effective management of water resources.

In Morocco, the project focuses on the Menasra sub basin. The Ministry of Environment and the Wilaya of Kenitra are the institutional sponsors of the dialogue, while the Agence Hydraulique du Bassin du Sebou is coordinating the dialogue implementation. After several meetings of participatory diagnosis about the aquifer status with the municipalities of Menasra, the Team of national experts is preparing the scenarios and action plans that will be validated in November 2007 during National Dialogue workshops on water, agriculture and interactions with the environment.