Integrated River Basin Management Study for Gwebi River

Background and Rationale On the 31st October 2019, the Infrastructure and Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ/ “the Bank”) and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) signed a Framework Agreement for undertaking of a study on the Gwebi river catchment area formally entitled Integrated River Basin Management – Pilot Case: Gwebi River. The two institutions are acutely aware of the fact that river catchments countrywide are negatively affected by the various land uses that compete for space and that if these land use activities are not managed in an integrated manner, they have the potential to compromise the long-term conservation status of the catchments and sustainability of water resources. River basins in Zimbabwe are undergoing tremendous changes arising from various land uses that are competing for space and are often conflicting. Basins that host the major urban settlements are particularly at risk from a wide range of land uses that exist while others are being proposed. If these land use activities are not well co- ordinated, they have the potential to compromise the long-term conservation status of these river basins. There is therefore need for an integrated approach to river basin management for the purpose of both avoiding potential land use conflicts and for enhancing the conservation status of the basins.