Anhui Chao Lake Environmental Rehabilitation Project

Establishing a skilled and effective lake basin authority was a long and arduous process. Converting the Chao Lake Management Authority (CLMA) from a sound concept to a skilled, effective lake basin planning and management organization evolved over time, and actions taken under the project helped the CLMA to establish its authority from scratch. Specifically, it (i) studied the experiences of governments and institutions in other countries in dealing with similar challenges; (ii) articulated (for itself and also for the relevant governments) a clear vision of what it wants to achieve and what measures it needs to take to get there; (iii) figured out ways to work constructively and collaboratively with other important institutions whose work impinges on the CLMA’s mission such as the provincial level departments with a mandate in certain fields of the lake basin management; (iv) developed its human resources to better match the staff skills needed to achieve its objectives, and collaborated with well-known experts and institutes for technical assistance; (v) strengthened women‘s capacity and participation in lake management; and (vi) developed the information system and monitoring facility necessary for CLMA to do its work. Although good progress has been made over the past 10 years, there are more milestones to reach.