MBEYA Regional Commissioner Juma Homera has hailed Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) for engaging in a research which has helped heighten efforts in restoring natural vegetation in water sources.

According to him, researchers from two entities have done a tremendous job as their work was going hand in hand with tree planting exercises in various water sources, something which has helped produce useful findings which will be used to further implement strategies to promote good flow of water from rivers to the ocean.

He made the remarks early last week here during the opening of six-day training for senior leaders supervising water and environment issues from four African countries as part of implementation of the Sustainable Catchment Management through Enhanced Environmental Flow Assessment (EFLOWS) project.

The participants involved came from Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and Kenya.

He commended the principal researcher at EFLOWS project Prof Japhet Kashaigili for supervising and coordinating the research work until its completion.

He said the research findings will help the government to work on various recommendations which have been highlighted and thus make decisions that provide positive impacts to the environment and the society. 

He said that education Tanzanian officials got from the experts from Tanzania and Australia will help increase understanding on environment and water sources management thus enabling them to plan and supervise well water sources for sustainable development.

In his remarks, Prof Kashaigili said the project aimed at determining the quantity and quality of water and sediment flows necessary to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and wellbeing that depend on them.

He said the training was meant to equip senior leaders supervising water and environment issues on assessment of water issues from the source to the ocean, especially this time when countries face multiple challenges caused by destruction of environment and water sources.

Wankyo Mnono, an advocate from the Vice President’s Office emphasized the importance of cooperation for all the countries in the Western Indian Ocean because its protection requires cooperation to achieve the goals of safe water flow to the ocean as well as its security and other water creatures.

He said successful implementation of recommendations from the assessment can have profound changes on communities living near rivers and the ocean.

Implemented by SUA and NEMC in collaboration with other stakeholders, the project is funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through contributions from 10 contracting parties of the Nairobi Convention.