Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project (PCBLT)

Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project (PCBLT)

Duration: March 2023 – December 2026
Budget: CAD $25 million, + CAD $1.1M of in-kind contribution from Alinea and its consortium partners
Financial Partner: Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Implementing Partner: Alinea International
Strategic Partner: Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)
Consortium Partners: Centre for Forestry Education and Research (CERFO), Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC), Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights and Development in Africa (CPHDA)
Community Partners: AGIR Plus- Niger, Alliance Citoyenne pour le Développement et l’Education à l’Environnement (ACEEN-Cameroon) and Organisation Sauvons le Lac Tchad (OSLT-Chad)

Introduction

The Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project (LCBCP) strengthens the climate resilience of ecosystems and marginalized communities, particularly women and youth, across six Ramsar sites in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. These regions face ecological degradation, biodiversity loss, hydrological instability, and increasing tensions around the utilization of natural resources.

Project Pillars 

Wetland Conservation & Climate Adaptation

The project promotes the restauration and conservation of wetlands and agropastoral areas by marginalized communities highly vulnerable to climate change, across protected areas of the Lake Chad Basin registered under the Ramsar Convention.

Through community-led restoration, climate adaptation practices, and environmental stewardship, the project protects fragile ecosystems while improving community resilience to climate shocks.

Women & Youth Economic Empowerment

The project supports women and youth in vulnerable agropastoral communities located within and around priority Ramsar sites to adopt and benefit from sustainable, climate-smart agricultural livelihoods.

By strengthening adaptive capacities, income-generating activities, and access to productive resources, the project enhances food security, economic resilience, and adaptation to climate change.

Environmental Peacebuilding & Leadership

The project enhances the leadership of women and youth in environmental peacebuilding around targeted Ramsar sites and within existing regional stabilization processes. By strengthening inclusive governance, dialogue, and community engagement, the project reinforces social cohesion and peace across the Lake Chad Basin and contributes to the Regional Stabilization Strategy of the LCBC and its partners.

Objectives

The project aims to:

• Restore degraded ecosystems and strengthen biodiversity.
• Support the utilization of NbS for climate adaptation and resilience.
• Promote inclusive and equitable resource governance.
• Advance gender equality and social inclusion.
• Support climate-resilient livelihoods for women, youth, and marginalized groups.
• Strengthen cross-border environmental cooperation.
• Integrate environmental peacebuilding into regional stabilization processes.

Key Activities and Components

 Nature-Based Solutions & Ecosystem Restoration

• Restoring 10,000 hectares of wetlands and agropastoral areas.
• Promoting climate-smart agriculture and NbS-linked livelihood promotion.
• Training of 1,500 government and regional-level officials in NbS, resources mobilization, climate adaptation, and biodiversity preservation/monitoring.

 Gender Equality & Social Inclusion

• Increasing women and youth participation in conservation and governance.
• Improving equitable access to natural resources, including land.
• Engaging men and boys as allies in gender-responsive climate action.

• Expanding gender-transformative initiatives that improve equity in decision-making, resource access, and leadership at both household and community levels.

 

Income-Generating Activities (IGAs)

• Supporting women-led and youth-led IGAs linked to NbS (agroforestry, sustainable fisheries, seed production, restoration services).
• Providing microgrants to community associations, cooperatives and small-scale producers.
• Offering coaching in green entrepreneurship, market development, and sustainable value chains.
• Promoting climate-resilient IGAs that support conservation and household income.

 

Community Governance & Environmental Peacebuilding

• Strengthening local and transboundary governance structures.

• Facilitating dialogue on natural resource use and developing natural resource management strategies at the community level.

Providing technical assistance and training on environmental peacebuilding and monitoring and evaluation of stabilisation efforts

 

Zones of Intervention (Ramsar Wetlands Sites)

Chad

• Lac Fitri
• Logone Floodplains & Toupouri Depressions
• Bahr Aouk & Salamat Floodplains

Cameroon

• Waza Logone Floodplains

 Niger

• Lac de Guidimouni
• Mare de Lasouri

Expected Achievements and Impact

The project aims to strengthen the climate resilience of ecosystems and marginalized communities, particularly women and youth, across the Lake Chad Basin through NbS.

Its expected quantitative results are listed below:

• 10,000 hectares of wetland/agropastoral areas restored.
• 1,500 government and LCBC officials trained (30% women).
• 3,000 Gender Model Families sensitized and trained.
• 315,000 direct beneficiaries, including 75% women.
• Over 2 million people benefiting from improved ecosystem services.
• 2.7 million displaced persons indirectly benefiting from environmental peacebuilding integration.

 

Key Achievements

 

NB: As of October 2025

Restauration

• Mapping and public dissemination of ecological and socio-economic restoration sites completed, enabling coordinated planning and action among stakeholders.
• Tree-planting missions conducted in degraded forest, wetland, and agro-pastoral landscapes, with strong community participation.
• Labour-Intensive (HIMO) approach introduced to restore degraded wetlands and agro-pastoral lands, creating local green jobs and promoting inclusive restoration work.
• Restoration tools, equipment, plants, and seeds provided to local communities.
• Training of hundreds of community members in seed collection, nursery establishment, tree-planting, restoration techniques delivered
• Workshops on NbS financing offered to national government and regional officials.
• Multinational workshops on biodiversity monitoring systems, involving specialists from Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and partner countries, hosted.
• Coordination missions with technical services in forestry, agriculture, and environmental management implemented to strengthen institutional collaboration.

Income-Generating Activities:

• 31 micro-grants (value of 4 million CFA each) offered to support innovative IGAs in wetlands, climate-smart agriculture, agro-pastoral production, and women-led green enterprises.
• Capacity-building missions conducted to strengthen micro-grant recipient groups in management, financial literacy, and sustainability.
• Women’s groups knowledge and network empowered thought their participation in national platforms exhibitions and forums.
• Training delivered on (micro)business development and management to community groups, associations and cooperatives.
• Women and youth integrated into field-based activities, including restoration work, nursery development, and IGA expansion.

 

Gender Equality:

• Development of the first National Action Plan for Women’s Land Rights in Chad, a landmark policy achievement integrating gender equality into land governance and national restoration priorities, and a Regional Action Plans on Women’s Land Rights also developed and adopted in Cameroon, strengthening regional alignment and multi-country commitment to gender-responsive land governance.
• Rollout of the GMF approach with civil society partners, including mentor training, community sensitization, and development of household-level gender action plans.
• Strengthened gender-responsive programming, with women and youth increasingly participating in natural-resource governance, restoration committees, and community dialogues.
• Introduction and expansion of the masculine leaders’ approach, engaging influential men and male youth as allies in gender equality, supporting household transformation, and promoting positive masculinities in restoration, land governance, and family well-being.

 

Environmental Peacebuilding

• Community dialogues held to identify current issues and potential solutions.
• Existing community-based natural resource management structures strengthened.
• Development of Natural Resources Management Strategies initiated at the community-level.
• Community radio journalists trained to deliver conflict-sensitive messaging on climate, land, and natural resources.
• Joint restoration activities (tree planting, wetland rehabilitation, HIMO) reduced tensions between farmers, pastoralists, fishers, and youth by creating shared community workspaces.

Success stories:

Here are a few examples of how PCBLT is transforming lives across the Lake Chad Basin:

 

Income Generating Activities (IGA)

Ms. Charlotte Inna
Member, SCOOPS DINGUI ZI FALAKAÏ Cooperative
Maga, Chad

 

This story highlights how integrated agro-fisheries, women’s leadership, and circular agriculture are strengthening livelihoods, food security, and climate resilience in Maga.

 

“Before the project, fish farming in Maga was done in a very basic way and depended entirely on the river. With the support of the Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project, the group installed above-ground fish tanks, making production easier and more reliable. Today, the water from the fish tanks is reused to irrigate vegetable gardens, enriching the soil naturally and reducing waste. Managed entirely by women, this circular system now allows them to produce both fish and vegetables year-round — even during the biological rest period when fishing is prohibited. As a result, incomes are increasing, and the community is no longer fully dependent on the river.”

 

 

Gender

Mr. Mahamadou Ousseini
Participant in the Gender Model Family training
Lassouri, Zinder Region – Niger

 

Before participating in the Gender Model Family training under the Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project, Mahamadou and his wife followed traditional gender roles where all domestic work fell on his wife while he worked in the fields. Through the training, Mahamadou realized how heavy her daily workload truly was. After the training, he made a commitment to change. He now helps fetch water, supports childcare, and takes the children to school. Despite concerns about community pressure, he remains determine. Mahamadou’s journey reflects how positive masculinities and shared responsibilities can transform family life and inspire change within the wider community.

 

“For me, family comes first. If I can help my wife in her many tasks, I will do it — no matter what people think.”

 

 

Environmental Peacebuilding

Mr. Yves Phono Kepin
Journalist, Radio Terre Nouvelle
Chad

 

As part of the Lake Chad Basin Conservation Project’s environmental peacebuilding component, Mr. Yves Phono Kepin took part in a specialized training for community radio journalists on climate change and environmental peace. In a context marked by climate variability, resource competition, and recurring community conflicts, the training strengthened his ability to raise awareness through radio programming on peaceful and inclusive natural resource management. Today, through radio broadcasts, community dialogues, and awareness campaigns, he is actively contributing to promoting environmental peace and reducing conflicts linked to natural resource use.

 

“This training helped me better understand environmental peace. The knowledge we gained will allow us to sensitize our communities on climate change, peaceful resource management, and social cohesion,” he shared.

 

 Partnerships and Stakeholders

 Canadian Partners

• CERFO– Expertise in remote sensing, GIS, forest management, and monitoring.
• CIER– Expertise in traditional, local, and Indigenous knowledge systems supporting inclusive stewardship.
• UNAC– Leads youth empowerment initiatives, especially for young women and girls.

African Partners

• CPHDA- A regional rights-based organization from Africa that leads peacebuilding, community mobilization, and inclusive natural-resource governance across fragile and displacement-affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin.
• OSLT- A Chad-based NGO recognized for its strong proximity to communities, deep local knowledge, and its ability to deliver climate, gender, and peacebuilding interventions in fragile and hard-to-reach areas of the Lake Chad Basin.
• ACEEN – A Cameroonian NGO that works with both resident and transhumant communities to promote environmental protection, sustainable natural-resource management, and peaceful socio-economic development in the Far North region of Cameroon and the wider Lake Chad Basin.
• Agir Plus 21- A Niger-based NGO working across seven regions to strengthen governance, education, youth empowerment, food security, health, and protection through rights-based and community-driven development approaches.

 

Challenges and Lessons Learned

• Security constraints requiring adaptive planning.
• Climate variability disrupting restoration efforts.
• Persistent gender norms needing sustained engagement.
• Institutional capacity strengthening essential for sustainability.

Way Forward

• Scale up and accelerate NbS across wetlands and degraded landscapes, supported by stronger ecological monitoring and regional data-sharing systems.
• Strengthen gender-responsive climate leadership, with a focus on empowering women and youth as decision-makers in conservation, land governance, and peacebuilding processes along with male allies.
• Expand climate-resilient IGAs and green entrepreneurship, linking community enterprises to NbS value chains, markets, and sustainable financing mechanisms.
• Reinforce inclusive community governance structures to support the co-management of wetlands, natural resources, and transboundary landscapes.
• Deepen technical collaboration and knowledge exchange with CERFO, CIER, UNAC, CPHDA, and regional learning networks to scale proven approaches and innovations.
• Advance long-term conservation planning through wetland management plans, community conservation agreements, and strengthened alignment with national and regional policies.

 

For more information, resources, or partnership opportunities, visit:
🌐 https://pcblt.alineainternational.com/