The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Libya has endorsed a 5.8 million US dollar project, financed by the Global Environment Facility, to strengthen environmental resilience and promote sustainable livelihoods in the Ubari Lakes basin, situated in the Fezzan region of western Libya.
The five-year initiative, developed in partnership with the Libyan Ministry of Environment, seeks to address accelerating land degradation and biodiversity decline in one of North Africa’s most fragile ecosystems. The project forms part of Libya’s broader commitment to ecological restoration, local economic revitalisation, and adherence to international environmental frameworks, including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Covering approximately 100,000 hectares, the programme will lay the foundation for the proposed Ubari Lakes National Park, an initiative envisioned to protect the basin’s distinctive desert wetlands and oases. Within this framework, around 225 hectares of wetlands are set to be rehabilitated, enabling the restoration of essential habitats and the revival of ecological functions long undermined by desertification, conflict, and climate variability.
UNDP’s statement emphasised that the project aims not only to conserve the natural environment but also to empower communities through sustainable economic engagement. Approximately 2,250 individuals — half of them women — are expected to benefit from employment opportunities linked to eco-tourism, sustainable agriculture, and nature-based livelihoods. The plan anticipates the creation of about 700 new jobs designed to align conservation with community development.
Integrating local knowledge and cultural practices with scientific conservation methods remains central to the project’s design. The initiative seeks to demonstrate that environmental sustainability in Africa must grow from within local realities, rather than be externally imposed. It highlights an approach that values traditional custodianship of natural landscapes and positions Libyan communities as primary agents in protecting their ecological heritage.
For Libya, and indeed much of the African continent, such interventions mark a shift toward regional ecological sovereignty — a recognition that sustainable development cannot be separated from social stability, cultural continuity, and environmental stewardship. The Ubari Lakes project thus stands as part of a wider continental effort to reimagine development through African-led, community-based solutions that value people and place in equal measure.
