The Project for Integrated Wetland Management in Olomega and El Jocotal Lagoons
Natural Environment Conservation
November 30th, 2015
Olomega Lagoon and the Natural Protected Area of El Jocotal Lagoon
2016/3/18 – 2021/3/17
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
El Salvador currently possesses seven (7) Ramsar sites, which are Natural Protected Area of El Jocotal Lagoon (hereinafter referred to as El Jocotal Lagoon), Jiquilisco Bay Complex, Cerrón Grande Dam, Olomega Lagoon, Guija Complex, Barra de Santiago Complex and Jaltepeque Complex. The total area of the Ramsar sites is 207,387ha, which covers approximately 10% of the land of El Salvador.
Olomega and El Jocotal Lagoons, the target areas of the Project are natural lakes that stretch over La Union, San Miguel, and Usulutan prefectures in the eastern side of the country where some environmental investments have occurred. Around the lagoons, about 19,500 local residents make their living primarily by fishery and dairy farming. These lagoons provide important sources of income for those people. Moreover, both lagoons affect the Jiquilisco Bay Complex in the downstream, which is the largest wetland in the country.
Those lagoons' natural environment has deteriorated due to various drivers such as domestic sewage, manure, agrochemicals, overfishing, invasive alien species including water hyacinth, and sedimentation. Conflict over the control of water between fishermen and farmers is another problem for wetland conservation. Appropriate wetland management is urgently needed; however, an institutional framework for integrated wetland management has not been fully developed yet.
Under these circumstances, the Government of El Salvador requested Japan to implement the Project with MARN as the main counterpart.
The Project aims to develop an institutional framework to ensure integrated management of Olomega and El Jocotal Lagoons, as a model approach, in order to promote conservation and wise use of wetlands in El Salvador.
1-1 | Establish Wetland Committees at national and local levels and facilitate the operation of the committees. |
1-2 | Collect the basic data on environment (e.g. water quality, water level, flood, biodiversity, etc.) and socio-economy (e.g. population trend, development plans) and analyse them. |
1-3 | Report the results of the analyses to the national and local Wetland Committees to be used for making the management decisions in their regular meetings (e.g. management planning and monitoring). |
1-4 | Establish monitoring system for regular updates of the data |
1-5 | Provide data to Wetland Unit to update Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS) |
1-6 | Develop an Operational Guideline for Wetland Committees at national and local levels |
2-1 | Prepare wetland management plans including zoning along with a long-list of potential pilot activities in a participatory manner using the results of the analyses. |
2-2 | Submit the wetland management plans for the approval of MARN through Wetland Unit. |
2-3 | Share the plans with local stakeholders to raise awareness. |
2-4 | Develop a Wetland Management Planning Guideline that can be applied in other Ramsar sites in El Salvador. |
3-1 | Develop criteria and procedures for selecting the pilot activities. |
3-2 | Prepare a short-list of pilot activities from the long-list with reference to 3-1 and in a participatory manner. |
3-3 | Select the pilot activities out of the short list and prepare an action plan with proper budget. |
3-4 | Implement and monitor the pilot activities |
3-5 | Develop implementation guidelines based on the pilot activities |
3-6 | Conduct workshops to share experiences of participating in pilot activities for the non-participating community members |
4-1 | Prepare PR materials using outputs such as the wetland management plan and pilot activities and conduct various PR activities. |
4-2 | Organize site visits by inviting stakeholders of other Ramsar sites in El Salvador. |
4-3 | Organize/ participate in international events with stakeholders of other projects and countries particularly within the Central American Region in collaboration with the Ramsar Secretariat and CCAD. |
Inputs Summary by Japanese Side
Input Summary by El Salvador Side