Ecological panel: aims, composition and terms of reference: note for the attention of the streering committee (prepared by WHO)

tBcoloelcal PaneL: Alne. Coposltlon and Tema ol Referenee {ote for _t!re atteptlon qf tha Steerlng Comlttee (Prepared by WIIO) 1. The proposal for the lnclucion 1n the 1t73 Onchocerel.asls Control ProJect ol en EcoloElggl Pqnel ?aa put f,orrard by EAO repreaentettvoe durlng the Accra neetlng, October L972. to study the problens vhloh sould heve to bs f,acod tollowlng the changea ln the water reglne of the Volta Rlver basin. The panol vqrld have to loresee the utillzatton of rater, exchlnge of lnformatlon on water uge ln the basin ag a rhole and thc leglrlatlve aspecta entalled (aee ApBondj.x 1). UNDP aupported the lncorporatlon of a tour.aen tean, the 19?3 budget propoaal at' r an estlnated cost ol $ 15 OOO. 2. The report of the Seeond Sesgtbn of the Steoring Coonlttog (23-25 Oetober LS72) in paragraph 26, cmented on l{llora dralt ProJect l}oeuroent for the 1973 Onehocerciasls Csntrol ProJect, es follors: 'Tlre reterenee to the 'rat6r utlllzatton touar ls a mlsnouter. Theprovislon ls for an e_cologlqlr1 paneI, tho terng of reference of whtch aro to bo draf,tod by the Bank. It lE oxpected that thts Eroup vlll be a tour.aan teau rhlch, a8 soon ee posalble ln L973, trill bo lnvfted to revlev the ertstlng data to make some prolll8lnary Judgenent on the Llkely ecological'ehangee that could bo expected to take place and, ln the l1ght of thta Judgeraent, to suggest rhat precauttona and nonitorlng arrangenonts nlght bo bullt lnto thc entlre prograurrc. For the gutdenco ' ol the executing agcncy., the Etoerlng Cmnlttee notes that, ln conslderlng the role of tlrle panel, it hac ln nlnd aE lts nenbore epeclaltats of such a ollbre ag Dr Jarnes Lee IBRD, Weehington; Prof,essor Ollbert l?hlte 'Instltuto ol Behavloral Science at the Unlverslty of Colorado; Dr Gerard Dekker, Bcononic Cmnleelon for Afrlcs, Beglonal l{ater Developnent Advlser, Addle Absbs; and Mr des Banvrie, fAO Beglonal Offlee, Accra. The possiblllty of the panel revi.erlng tbe aatlvltles on hydroblol.ogy and flshery blology ntght be eonsldsred.'r 3. Provlalon for the Pancl ln the l0?3 Onchocerctaais Control ProJeet Docunent $AE/72/Lze/s/ot/t4) ras duly lneluded under paragraph B.l.(p) elth 6 d/a budgetary provlalon, tentetlve locatlon at Volta Rtver Basln, OuagadougoJ, Accra, AbldJan and Bome, and the follorlng deacrlptloni "Egglgglca1.pelg! comirlelng: - a senlor ecologtat epeclall.zed in broad aapeets of river bael.n developaent (UilDP); - a rater devoloprnont trrt.gatton spocxaltet (FAO); - a conaultant ln rLver bastri managemont and leglslrtl.on (FAO); - a prbltc health englnoer (WUO); vilL work together for s1: weeks each on the proJect to idvtee on the. future ecologlcal etudles requXred and to f,oregee developncnt and leglelatlon.ol en integrated rlver basln comtssr,on for sater manegeuent.' -2- 4. IBRD, ln a memorandun datod 17 January 1973, then suggoated nanes of memberg for the task and tsms of reference, reterrtog hovovor to a "S,clenEl4,g-4d:lsory_Board to the OnchoeercLegls Control Progranner', rather than to an Ecologleel Panel. The prolrcsod rnnee of nenbers lroro: Protesaor G. Ulrlte, Inttltute of BehavLorel Sclence, Unl.vdrslty of Colorado; , Dr G. Dekker, Beglonal Fetcr Develolnont AdvLeer, Econonle Comnl.gslon for Afriea; Mr C. dos BouvrLo, Begtonal Lend and Eator Develolment Offlcer, EAO Eeglonal Oltlco for Alrtoa; Irr J. A, L6e, Oflice of Envlronnentil Affalra, IBBD. The terns of reforence proposed by IBRD read ag folloyc: "(a) The paael rlll revles at an €ErIy. datc ln t9?3 tho nature antl nagaLtude of, development betng proposed for the area destlned to be rendered lree ol onchocerclaete ylth a'vier to ldontLfying the environnental and huaan ecoLogtc tnpllcatlons of, auch developent, both aa regerdo problens and opportunltloe llke1y to'acclruo under alternetlve approachee, lf such present themselvea; to suggoat guch eteps as Eay be practlcable and foaslbl.e ln the develotruent proeoss tor preventlng andr/or nltlgatlng scrlanaly adverso envl.ronnontel and/or hunan ecologic cona€guences, and for the enheneenent of envlroruental and/or hunan ecologlc values. The panel r1ll have under contlnulng reuLew the plans for developnent, Lncludlng land ugs and vater tranagenent, ln order that tholr tnplloattone lor the envlronnent and huuan rslfarc can be batter underatobd. (b) The pencl 1111 undertake at an eerly dlte tn 1973 s revles of the srtstlng envLronmsnt-reletod data rlth regard to the propoaed control pnogranute as ryell as the reaults of earllcr anOlor elmilar prograrnss lor the control of the black-fly(Siar,+tus,dannqsBo) Ln order to provldo prellnlnary advtce and consultqtion on the ecologlcal conelderations lnvolved and, f,urther, to suggest rbat preeautlonary ateps should tre teken to prevent or nlnimlae serlously adverse conseguonces; and, to lndlcate the nature and ecopo of a pnogrrqpre of nonltorl.ng and surveLllance, 1! any, noqutred to detoct and otherrLse neasurc changee !.n tbe environnent and tte blotb a'ttrlbutablo to the control prograpma. Wlth regard to the above, tb panel. rcould seek to provLde gutdanoc on the tnssctlelas(s) to bo enployed, Ite lormulatlon and nethod ol eppllcatlon as these nay alf,ect non-target llle forns, human health, and lrccatble eccumuletlon or bulld-up Ln the enulronnont. In accmpltshtng the tagks set lorth fn (a) and (b) ebove, the Bank rlll at sone approprl.ate eerly date vtslt the area of, the co,ntrol prograone to full.y aegualnt ltse}t rlth the aa.turo and ertent of, tho ecooyateus to bo aflocted and rlth the on-alte loglattcs of tlre qontrol etforts," (c) -3- 5.- Fl\O Beglonal Offtce for A.friae, through Mr des Bouvrte'g letter to IBED dated 12 Febrrary 1973 conenttng on the IBRD terna of refcrsncG, auggeetod that mors lmportence be gLven to rater utlllgatlon probl€ns, aa orlgl,nal1y proposed durLng the Accra meetlng. The rolevant pastlgo reada: 'rI h.e,Ye carefully revJ.esed the tcrog of reterenco proporcd tor the Sel.cntl,flc AdvLeory Board to be ortsbltchod Ln connoctLon wlth thc Onchocerolaais Control Progranner 8nd eo pleeeod to lnforn yotr that broadly apeakLng I an ln full rgreenent vlth chat lrae bcen proposed. One aspact, horevcr, f lrraonrlly teel, ahotrld be glven nore attentton. One ol the nsJor contequoncea of tbe Onchoccrclests eaDlralgD rtll bc r change in tha lrnd use rysten trm ertenalve tmeh fallos rotstXon tozards Lncreaslagly nore lntenstvel Lend usc lncluding lrrl.gatton. The lnpact of theee develolucnta 1111 ln tha flnal end be folt by rater uaors throughout the Basl,n, Nes land and cretor leglalatlon rill have to ba provlded for. Extatlng tnternetlonal 6,greoocnta on the uge of the Volta El.ver eystcne sators 1111 bs subJect to rohegotiatlon. Much \ remalns to be done ln this fLold ol study. We ors Lt therctorc to our uember G6vernuente to at 16a8t constder thsae aepecta, revLer exlstlng legl,alation end lnternctlonal agreemcnts and provtde guldrncs on thelesal l4pUeatlona of eue,h baeln rlde developoenta. I do rcallze that itrte tg a delicate natter rrtth polttlcally aensltlvc undertonce, .whtch ghould be dealt wlth prtrdentry. yet, r roul.d Ilke to suggeat that a paragraph deallng sith thls aopect be addsd to the preacnt t6tns of retereneo. I an not certaln rhether tho Scientif,lc Advlsory Board es conctLtuted et the" praEent cstrld eatlrfactorLly cover thla aspect. Perhaps ahould a ppectellst or lard and sctor leglelatton be lnvlted to becone the fllth uembcr of ureBoard. , f,hryo, tlaally, been hrppy to note that the Bank lntondc to f,lstd a nxegton earry thl,a year and r eha1l be lrappy to parttolpate. Rlght at the nment I an howevor sehedulcd to travel to Bone for ur8ont consultatlons on ths above aontl.oned diought al.tuation unt1l the end of the month. Tbc oecond hel! of March at least before the ralns start ln Aprflr/May rould gult me voll, trn the neantlne I have prepred a 30-page surounry of bastc dats entltled "thc Volta BXver, an Internattonal Blver Bastn", whleh mlght bs used by the Board as a first rorklng doculront. I ch&U bo looklng fonrard to heering fiou you." 6. Durl.ng Lts ?hlrd Seaslon (t3-16 February l9?3) the Steerlng Cmnlttee oxantned the IBBD proposalr and concluded aa foDo'nc (parographe 28r 29 and 3O of tho Eey.ffit of the Thlrd geeaion): "Tlre prolrcsed terrae of reference for the Ecglogtea.l panel prcpared by Dr J, A. Lse, IBBD, rore eraulned by tb6 Steerlng Cmntttos. The Eteorlng Coonlttec erprassod lta apprcclatlon for llr Lcots sork. Dr Bsllorlva querled the durattoa and financlog of the Panel as well as . certaln of ltr firnctLons; lt ras cwrflnrcd that slr aaa/oonths for tlro t7 -4- Panel vero ineludod ln tho Iatertra ProJcet at a cost of US$ 15 OOO and the dsscrlptlon of the Panel's rork es augg€tted at the Acara neettng waa also ciroulated. It waa agrced thet the tro doeunents 1111 bo revlored rlthln HHO, FAO and IINDP and thp cmenta sent to Mr Bazl.n. The Steerlng Conntttoe agrced rtth Dr Bellerl.ve that the Eeologlcal Panel *ould aorvo a usoful purposo, eoplencntlng thc eletelled scientlltc ctudiea carrlod out by WIIO and FAO. tt ras reemmendod thgt, fo1lorlng thotr vtalt to the proJeot, neubers ol the penel should neet rttb thc Stecrlng Connittec at 1te next Eeag!.on In May to dtactrss tholr,work pro8rs"'-e.' 7.. In a cable of 22 March, PAO erprcsocd the rlch to nolnate f,lr Robort Snlth, rgrononlat, ss uesber of the Panel, togethor rlth tr C. des Bouvrl,e frm tbslr Begtonal Offlce. No eomoenta have becn rocelv€d frm UIIDP. 8. It nust bo notcd thrt no conoluslvo rcport ol thc tlehery blologlot enit ot the hydrobtologlots rorklng on thc ef,f,ects of larvlcldoa on non target organlsna can be erpoeted before Decerabar 19?3 or oven later. It ir thua dorbtltrl whother the Ecologlcal Penel could dellne the problens llnked rlth ths ueo of lernLaides f,or S.dannosuo coatrol belore the lteld.lnvaatlgetlone have besn carrlod otrt. It convcnod ln the lnnedlate future, such a Pane1 sould probably be obltged to restrtgt tts actlvitles to a general survey of the'ecologlcal probleng and theXr relatlonehlp rtth the reclamatlon of uninhebtted erara and rlth the uao of l.nsectleldes ln tho savannrh bclt of festern Alrlca. To be cmplete thlg aurrrey chould elso covar the cffects on no,n target organlanc ol tha agrtcultural lnaectlcldes uscd In lugo amounta tor crop protectioq, whlch could affect flrct ths terrestrlal fauna, and then, through ttrc rua-ott, the aquatic tauna. The etudy ol the preecnt snd future rater usage rotrld be techntcally nore feaslble, eapbotally as tho propoaed econmtc develolnent sehemes do not lncludo any large scale dang or lrrtgatlon Sohenec. 9. tlence the Stccrlng Cmlttoo Eay rleh to congtder tho prlorltlel at ltg May ceealon rlth a vler to llnallzlng the prectco terns of referonce, the coopoaltlon of the Panel, and the tlnlng ol the aetuel vlslta.