In preparation for the 11th World Lakes Conference hold in Nairobi, Kenya from 31st October to 4th November 2005, the Living Lakes network hold the first African Living Lakes Regional Conference at Lake Victoria from 27th to 30th October 2005. This was the first time, NGOs working on Lakes Management and Conservation in Africa met. The event acted as Pre-11th World Lakes Conference.
In general, NGOs in Africa have played a leading role in supplementing government efforts in the management of forests and other resources. The NGOs dealing with lake management can also play a major role in helping governments manage their lakes and conserve biodiversity. This conference supported this endeavour by:
- Bringing together most of the organizations in the management of African lakes and provide them with the opportunity to plan and focus the African agenda on lake management.
- Providing participants from the African region with the opportunity to interact with their counterparts from other continents and compare their experiences on lake management.
- Promoting the exchange of know-how about renewable energy technology in order to conserve natural resources and improve standards of living of the lake population in a special conference workshop.
- Providing the participants with the rare opportunity to enjoy the Lake Victoria environment and the hospitality of its communities as well as learning about sustainable community-based projects during field visits.
Conference speakers included African experts from Eastern African Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Tana (Ethiopia) and Lake St. Lucia (South Africa), as well as international experts from Lake Constance (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and Lake Biwa (Japan). As keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP, had been invited. Conference supporters were the German Federal Ministry for Environment and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (gtz).