Prevent disasters with the Princess Margriet Fund

STREAM stands for STrengthening Resilience through Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Management. With this programme, we aim to unlock the humanitarian potential of Nature-based Solutions in the Nile River Basin. The end goal: healthy ecosystems, safe communities, and sustainable economic opportunities.

Starting in Egypt and Sudan, we will test and then scale solutions together with communities. Over the course of 20 years, we want to expand the programme to work with communities in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda as well.

The programme shifts from sectoral projects, limited in time and space, to locally initiated experimentation that addresses underlying causes of vulnerability.

We take a long-term approach, broken up in distinct phases. From problem and opportunity identification, to testing solutions and implementing them at scale.

We jointly design, experiment with and implement Nature-based Solutions. Everything is done together with local communities and partners.

Nature-based Solutions are one of the means in our humanitarian toolkit, alongside Early Warning Early Action systems, improved water management, first aid trainings, and other interventions combined in an integrated approach.

The IUCN defines Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously benefiting people and nature.” Proper implementation of NbS requires time, scale, and involvement of local communities and experts.

There are many examples of Nature-based Solutions, including soil conservation, forest restoration, restoring river flows and certain forms of climate-smart or regenerative agriculture. For more information, consult the IFRC Nature Navigator Handbook.

We are currently in the first phase, focusing on engagement, co-creation processes, research, and developing the first pilots in Egypt and Sudan from mid-2022 to mid-2024.

The programme is currently being set-up by The Netherlands Red Cross, Egyptian Red Crescent and Sudanese Red Crescent, with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC).

To support the development of pilots and scale-ups as well as expansion of the programme to other countries, we are actively looking for additional funding and partners from civil society and knowledge institutes.

Are you interested? Feel free to reach out to us through the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Large parts of the city of Tacloban were destroyed by typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Buildings were demolished by strong winds and floodwaters travelled many kilometers inland.

Leyte, the island home to Tacloban, was the most heavily affected island in the Philippines. More than 6,300 people died and more than 26,000 were injured. In all, 1.6 million families were affected by typhoon Haiyan.

Although Haiyan was an exceptionally devastating typhoon, this type of natural disaster is unfortunately not a rare occurrence in the Philippines. Approximately 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, while storms and monsoons result in frequent flooding. The population lives under constant threat due to these disasters, and faces extreme difficulty building a safe and stable life.

With this project we aim to help more than 30,000 people in 7 neighborhoods in and around Tacloban become more resilient in the face of the typhoons and floods that will most certainly reoccur.

As is usual for projects supported by the Princess Margriet Fund, we aim to increase the resilience of communities in and around Tacloban through a range of activities:

• Restoration of mangrove forests. These trees grow in coastal water and anchor the soil, which blocks wind and creates mud banks. By restoring the coast with mangroves, natural breakwaters are formed, thus reducing the risk of flooding during storms. The forests are planted and maintained together with local residents and with expert consultation to optimally position the mangroves and use the most suitable plant species.
• Better warning systems, education about disaster risk reduction and emergency response trainings. With better warning systems for bad weather, more information about disaster preparation, and training for emergency response teams, the local population will be equipped with the knowledge of what to do when disasters strike.
• Trainings and projects regarding hygiene, clean drinking water, and waste. Hurricane Haiyan destroyed numerous toilets and water pumps. Furthermore, many displaced people moved to live with others in more densely populated areas. In such situations, the health risks become much higher, as diseases can spread much more rapidly. Therefore, trainings on sanitation, water pump repair, and emergency sanitation help lower this risk. Repairing water pumps or placing them in alternative locations, as well as creating fixed locations for waste processing significantly reduce the health risks for the local population.
• New, more diverse and sustainable sources of livelihood for the local population. This is strongly linked to the mangrove reforestation. Mangroves play an important role in the local ecosystem, as fish and other sea life thrive there. Residents can catch these fish for their own consumption or to sell.

This project started in 2018 and will continue until June 2023.

Our most important executing partner is the Philippines Red Cross. Additionally, we collaborate with international organizations such as Commonland. We also collaborate with local stakeholders such as the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, the Department of Education and the local water district.

Over the last twenty years flooding alone accounted for 47% of all weather-related disasters. Climate change will further increase flood risks in the future. If no action is taken, flood disasters will continue to harm many vulnerable people in Beira. As recent as March 2019 cyclone Idai caused major floods in areas around the city, leading to hundreds of deaths and 1.7 million people affected.

While cyclone Idai was an exceptionally disastrous event, many communities in Beira experience multiple flooding events in their streets and homes every year during the rainy season. There are multiple causes for these flood events, but local partners and affected communities point out that many areas are not well connected to existing drains and that a lot of waste is blocking the discharge of flood waters during rains.

Through our collaboration with local and international partners, we aim to help the inhabitants of three urban areas in Beira (appr. 60,000 people) to become more resilient to urban floods.

In 2020 the Netherlands Red Cross called out to private sector partners, knowledge institutes and local organizations to join the Living with Floods challenge. The question to be answered: how can vulnerable people become better able to anticipate and act, minimizing the impact of floods?

Through our support to two initial pilots in 2020-2021, we have now built up a local network of flood resilience actors supported by global partners to continue work on two priority areas:

• To help flood-affected urban communities to build their capacity on flood risk awareness and taking climate adaptive water actions. This includes a strong focus on restoring and managing the (informal) community-level drains, expanding green & blue infrastructures where possible.
• To support communities and local actors to develop their capacity to take flood risk preparedness and anticipatory actions. Support will include increasing local early warning & early action capacities, and improving flood evacuation services.

The pilot period started early 2020 and was finalized by the end of 2021. The current stage focusing on the two priority areas will continue until December 2023.

Our local implementing partner is the Mozambique Red Cross Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. We work very closely with local partner Associação FACE and with international organizations such as HKV and UNESCO-IHE. We also collaborate with local stakeholders such as the Municipality of Beira, Sanitation Services, and the Water Board.