Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

Policy, Plan orProgrammeNational Water Policy(draft) (2009)Integrated WaterResources Master Plan(draft)The National ForestPolicy (2002)The National ForestryProgramme (draft) (2002)Description / relevance to the NASThe draft Water Policy outlines the main policy strategies to optimise thesustainable utilisation of the country’s limited water resources. Animportant element of the policy is improvement of water availability forboth socio-economic and economic productivity. The policy also providesclear demarcation of the responsibilities of the various stakeholders andinstitutions involved in the integrated development and management ofwater resources in the country. Through the Water Act River BasinAuthorities have been established (December 2009) and watermanagement responsibilities have been handed down to each basin. Theoverall goal of the NWP is sustainable development and management ofwater resources in the country through integrated planning.The implementation of the NAS measures must be guided by theprinciples enshrined in this policy. Water, in terms of the Constitution, is anational resource and as such must be put to work where it can play animportant social and economic function but at the same time the utilisationof the resource must be contained within a longer-term sustainableframework to ensure its continued availability for future generations andmust not cause the degradation of vital ecosystem services.Integrated planning is being enshrined through the formulation of anIntegrated Water Resources Master Plan. The IWRM Plan, still in draft,seeks to combine essential IWRM principles and procedures (namelystakeholder consultation, capacity building, training and research in waterdevelopment and management) as well as integrating sustainabilityissues.The IWRM Plan seeks to “promote the co-ordinated development andmanagement of water, land and related resources, in order to maximizethe resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner withoutcompromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”. Thus IWRM buildson three basic pillars: (1) an enabling environment of proper waterresources policies and legislation; (2) an institutional framework ofcapable institutions at national, local and river basin levels, and (3) a setof management instruments for these institutions by developing a strategyfor financing IWRM implementation and also reviewing.The implementation of the NAS measures where these concern irrigationand water abstraction must ensure that the resource is utilised in asustainable manner and where possible based on sound science andresearch on the quantity and quality of the resource and its safeabstraction rate.Policy that aims to achieve sustainable forest management andsustainable development of all types of forests in Swaziland. Itsdevelopment was triggered in part due to the extent of deforestation in thecountry due to various activities and the need of a coordinated responseand adequate institutions. Relevance to the NAS rests mainly on itssection on natural forests and woodlands, which may be affected by theexpansion of sugar cane farming.The main purpose of the National Forestry Programme is to identify thepriority problems, the corresponding plans for action and the projectedtiming of starting and duration. Relevance to the NAS mainly relates tothe actions foreseen to protect natural forests and woodlands, as land usechanges (into sugar cane farming) may affect biological diversity andvaluable forest resources that may not have the desired degree ofprotection.RDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 156