LTA Executive Director, Dr. Henry Mwimwa, in his welcome remarks, he mentioned that this particularyIinternational Conference is not only focused on the African Great Lakes, but on other lakes and ecosystems as well of the world at large. He took a time to thank Pr. Mohiuddin Munawar and the AEHMS team for having accepted to co-host this important International conference. He extended thanks  to the LTA Secretariat host Governement: the Government of the Republic of Burundi, the governments of other Lake Tanganyika riparian countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia) and the African Development Bank for the continued support to the efforts made in ensuring a sustainable management of the Lake Tanganyika. He congratulated the Conference Secretariat, the Scientific and Local Organizing Committees for having reviewed the manuscripts in a timely manner. 

" It is my hope that you will all take advantage of this occasion to not only share information but begin to explore ways in wich you can work together" wished Pr Munawar to the partcipants.

The Great Lakes of the World (GLOW) Working Group was established by the Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Society in 1996 when the first GLOW symposium was organized at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Since then the AEHMS has launched a continuing series of international symposia in order to promote interaction and communication amongst various great lakes/large lakes researchers across the world. The purpose of GLOW is to establish a global platform where ecosystem-based studies of structure, function and performance of large/great lake ecosystems is promoted, organized and synthesized. In addition, GLOW attempts to promote ecosystem, science-based management of these extensive natural resources in an integrated, multi-trophic and multi-disciplinary fashion. A majority of the great lakes/large lakes researchers, students and managers are aware of the GLOW series of symposia as well as the resulting peer reviewed publications. These publications include special issues of the journal AEHM and books of the Ecovision World Monograph Series.

Lake Tanganyika is well-known as a hotspot of aquatic biodiversity, harbouring hundreds of species. It is famous for its colourful fish, as well as snails, crabs, shrimps, sponges, and many other organisms that are found nowhere else in the world. As Africa’s oldest and deepest lake it contains almost 17% of the world’s available freshwater supply. Millions of people depend on the lake for water, food, and transportation including important transport routes between the riparian countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia. Due to Tanganyika’s important ecosystem, the AEHMS decided to convene the seventh conference on the Great Lakes of the World (GLOW 7) on this amazing lake, with the help of the Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA).

Previous knowledge of Burundi's wildlife came from scientific surveys conducted in the mid-20th century, when the nation was under Belgian administration. But its history since then has been one of political unrest, population growth, and habitat loss. Today, approximately 10 million people occupy an area the size of Massachusetts, giving Burundi one of the highest population densities in Africa.

Academy curator David Blackburn joined his colleague Eli Greenbaum, professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, on the 2011 expedition with the goal of finding Cardioglossa cyaneospila, as well as other amphibians and reptiles first described 60 years ago. To their pleasant surprise, the habitats of the Bururi Forest Reserve in the southwest part of the country were still relatively intact, with populations of rare forest birds and chimpanzees present.

With little knowledge to go on except a hunch that C. cyaneospila would make a call like its possible close relatives in Cameroon, Blackburn finally found a single specimen on his fifth night in the forest.

"I thought I heard the call and walked toward it, then waited," said Blackburn. "In a tremendous stroke of luck, I casually moved aside some grass and the frog was just sitting there on a log. I heard multiple calls over the next few nights, indicating a healthy population of the species, but I was only able to find this one specimen."

The Bururi long-fingered frog is about 1.5 inches long, with a black and bluish-gray coloration. The males are notable for one extra-long finger on each foot, analogous to the "ring finger" in humans, whose purpose is unknown. Its closest relatives live in the mountains of Cameroon, more than 1,400 miles away.

The lone specimen collected, which now resides in the Academy's herpetology collection, can be used for DNA studies to determine how long the Cardioglossa species from Burundi and Cameroon have been genetically isolated from one another. The results will shed light on Africa's historical climate conditions, a topic that has far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of life in the continent that gave rise to our own species.

In addition to locating the Bururi long-fingered frog, Blackburn and Greenbaum also documented dozens of other amphibians in Burundi, many of which had never before been recorded in the country. The team also discovered some species that may be new to science.

"Eventually, we will use the data from our expedition to update the IUCN conservation assessment for amphibians of Burundi," said Greenbaum. "Because Burundi is poorly explored, we've probably doubled the number of amphibian species known from the country. Once we demonstrate that Burundi contains rare and endemic species, we can work with the local community to make a strong case for preserving their remaining natural habitats."

Source: Science Daily

The adoption of the water code proposal by the two parliament houses is a considerable progress in the development of water sector. In the aim of providing potable water and appropriate basic sanitation to all Burundian population, Burundi got engaged in a reform process for water sector since 2007. The reform intends to provide the sector with an appropriate legal and institutional frame, to ensure an effective and efficient management of water resources and render more sustainable the basic water and sanitation services.

The legal frame of water sector in Burundi evolved with time. It went through the status where water was a common asset, supposed to be abundant and inexhaustible that everyone could use as he wishes, up to the status of water ownership by the Government under some reserves legally authorized. However, it is surprising to notice that this legal frame was not complete and the existing legal texts remained non operational as they were lacking by-laws and a wide dissemination to stakeholders.

All those shortcomings and inconsistencies have to be consequently corrected by the Water Code which must be complete at its level, and more coherent and well adapted to baseline data characterizing the water resource management.

In the development of the water code which started in 2010, experts took into account the provisions of some international conventions such as the United Nations Frame Convention on Biodiversity, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the Convention on Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika.

Senators voted 100% amendments proposed by the commissions consulted, and these amendments are added to those provided by the Parliament during its adoption which took place on 23^rd December, 2011. The next step is the promulgation by the President of the Republic of this law containing many innovations.

Source : Newsletter « Réformes Eau et Assainissement au Burundi »