NDJAMENA, 11 September 2007 (IRIN) - During a visit to Chad last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Lake Chad, one of the most striking symbols of Africa's deteriorating environment.

"I came here to visit the lake to see for myself the damage caused by desertification and global warming," Ban said.

In less than 30 years, Lake Chad has shrunk from 25,000km2 to 2,000km2 today. Some 25 million people still live around the basin, many looking out on grounded boats and barren land which was once under water.

The lake is less than seven metres deep. Its size has always fluctuated throughout the seasons, but over the past four decades it has become progressively smaller. A dryer climate and a higher demand for water for agriculture are the reasons for the decrease in its surface area, say researchers.

"It is a problem which must be made part of an important international plan," Ban said. "Our hope is that the United Nations and the international community will launch a big programme to save Lake Chad."

Member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission – Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – each of which shares part of the Lake's shore, have been appealing for money to save the lake since 2003 when the Lake Chad Replenishment Project was launched.

The project would entail damming a regional river, the Oubangui, and redirecting its flow through a navigable channel to Lake Chad.

The World Bank and the Global Environment Facility have already been running ecosystem renewal projects.

CLICK to read the IRIN feature "Saving Lake Chad"

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