Lakes and wetlands are among the world’s most endangered ecosystems. The Living Lakes network has been campaigning for the protection of lakes and wetlands worldwide for 25 years. As part of the 19th World Lakes Conference at Lake Platen in Hungary, lake conservationists from all over the world are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Living Lakes Network.
Radolfzell / Hungary, 08.11.2023: “We’re saving the world’s lakes!” At a ceremony during the 19th World Lakes Conference, which took place from November 7-9 at Lake Balaton in Hungary, 60 people active in lake and wetland protection from all over the world celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Living Lakes Network. The environmental foundation Global Nature Fund (GNF) uses the network to coordinate the transfer of knowledge and technology between around 100 non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries. In 25 years, countless joint projects, 16 international conferences and a lot of lobbying for better lake and wetland protection have been implemented.
Cross-border cooperation to protect water bodies
The concept for the Living Lakes network was born when it was founded in 1998: Small non-governmental organizations should be integrated into a global network as representatives of a lake or wetland in order to learn from each other and in this way be strengthened for local work and at the same time create a strong voice for global water protection. The founding event took place in November 1998 at Lake St. Lucia in South Africa with activists from Japan, Germany, South Africa and the USA. Since then, the network has grown to around 100 partner organizations. After 25 years, the need for transnational cooperation to protect lakes and wetlands is as great as ever: “More than 85 percent of the world’s lakes and wetlands have been lost in the past three centuries, and the rate of loss has increased dramatically in recent decades,” says Dr. Thomas Schaefer, Head of Nature Conservation & Living Lakes at GNF. “This is significantly faster than the tropical rainforest, for example, which is much more talked about – although water ecosystems have indispensable functions for the preservation of an intact environment and also play a decisive role in the fight against climate change as an important carbon sink.”
3,817,000 tree seedlings and 20 green filter systems – the achievements of the last 25 years
Over the past 25 years, the partner organizations of the Living Lakes Network have implemented countless projects for the restoration of wetlands and for better management and sustainable management in lake catchment areas. In Latin America and Asia, GNF and its partners planted 3,817,000 tree seedlings, and in Latin America 20 green filter systems have been built to date to reduce the discharge of wastewater into open waters. Many millions of euros have been raised by loyal supporters of the network in Germany and Europe alone through the Global Nature Fund and passed on to projects, particularly in countries of the South.
2022 saw the start of the network’s largest project to date, the “Living Lakes Biodiversity and Climate Project” funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). Over the next five years, under the coordination of GNF, ten partner organizations from twelve countries will implement ambitious measures to protect the lakes and wetlands on their respective lakes – from the promotion of ecotourism on the largest lake in Southeast Asia, Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia, to the development of sustainable aquaculture in Lake Malawi in the fight against overfishing.
The United Nations lists the Living Lakes Network and the “Living Lakes Biodiversity and Climate Project” as an official partner of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Partnership Platform.
Networking in politics, raising public awareness
Since 2004, the Living Lakes Network has awarded the title “Threatened Lake of the Year”, and since 2011 also the title “Living Lake of the Year”, in order to raise public awareness of this important issue. “The Living Lakes network got off to a very informal start. And even today it feels like one big family when Living Lakes partners meet at conferences, for example. This trust that has grown is an important basis for cooperation,” emphasized Marion Hammerl, President of the Global Nature Fund and idea generator for Living Lakes from the very beginning at the ceremony during the 19th World Lakes Conference at Lake Balaton in Hungary. In addition to many Living Lakes members, numerous active members of other lake organizations from politics, science and non-governmental organizations were invited. The evening concluded that better cooperation between the many organizations is now more important than ever in order to save the world’s lakes.
Contact us
Global Nature Fund
Dr. Thomas Schaefer
Head of Living Lakes & Nature Conservation
Fritz-Reichle-Ring 4
78315 Radolfzell
Phone: +49 7732 9995 85
E-mail: schaefer@globalnature.org
Website: www.globalnature.org