UNDP acting as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing assistance to Belarus in the preparation of the GEF Project “Conservation of Wetland Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of Freshwater Ecosystems in the Western Dvina/Daugava Transboundary River Basin” (Western Dvina IP)

The proposed project is geographically focused on the Western Dvina/Daugava river basin. Within this transboundary freshwater basin, the project will support transboundary cooperation and promote mechanisms for the integrated management of the water resources. Improving the management of transboundary waters in the Western Dvina river basin will be based on the implementation of respective national-level management plans for the transboundary river basin, in Belarus and in Latvia. Simultaneously, the project will support further development, appraisal and adoption of the transboundary cooperation agreement between the two countries. The project will assist the two countries with preparation of a regional Strategic Action Programme (SAP), outlining the key priorities and directions for joint management actions and transboundary cooperation in the basin for conservation and sustainable use of the shared transboundary resources, as a roadmap for the implementation of the transboundary cooperative agreement. The project will further accelerate the transformative processes in the Western Dvina basin in Belarus by pilot testing conjunctive management solutions offered through the national Western Dvina River Basin Management Plan and providing targeted incremental support to concrete activities aimed at restoring and protecting valuable freshwater ecosystems and ecosystem services.