World Lake Day

Despite their importance, lakes remain among the least monitored water bodies on Earth . Unlike rivers, which often have established gauging stations, lakes are poorly studied, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. UNEP is working to change this. Through tools and initiatives such as the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer , the UNEP lakes portal , the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and integrated water resources management frameworks, efforts are underway to close data gaps and improve policies, plans and approaches. But we need to scale up, and scale up fast. UNEP launched a landmark, transboundary initiative in the Lake Tanganyika Basin that works across Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia to protect biodiversity, restore critical wetlands and degraded landscapes, support sustainable fisheries management and enhance water security . It will rehabilitate 1,700 hectares of ecosystems and foster catchment-wide governance through commun...

Lakes may seem remote, but their health determines our own . They are essential parts of the global hydrological cycle – a topic that is on the table for discussion at the Seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly , to be held in December 2025. Like other freshwater ecosystems , lakes are important buffers against drought, engines of local economies and cradles of biodiversity. They are also sentinels, warning us of the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis . Protecting freshwater ecosystems like lakes is not optional . It is central to biodiversity, water, energy and food security, and offers climate resilience . Member States, guided by the leadership of Indonesia, must adopt an integrated water resources management approach to enhance lake protection and restoration . Greater investments in infrastructure, data and innovative solutions are crucial to meet the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 – clean water and sanitation for all – and ensure long-term...

To understand the fate of lakes , we need to zoom out to the global hydrological cycle – the invisible thread linking glaciers, rivers, wetlands, aquifers and seas. Glaciers , often called “water towers of the world”, feed many of the planet’s lakes and rivers. Nearly 1.9 billion people depend on these frozen reserves for drinking water, irrigation and hydropower. But climate change is melting glaciers at unprecedented rates . Recognizing this, 2025 marks the United Nations International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation . The year 2024 was the warmest year on record, and in 2023 alone, glaciers lost more than 600 gigatons of ice – the greatest loss in five decades. As they retreat, a new phenomenon is reshaping mountain landscapes: the explosive growth of glacial lakes . These lakes can be both lifelines and risks. They store meltwater, acting as buffers during drought . But they also pose catastrophic risks through glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) , which can devastate entire ...

A recent analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) revealed a stark figure. Surface water bodies, such as lakes, are shrinking or being lost entirely in 364 basins worldwide. The degradation of lakes is not just an environmental threat ; it also affects communities that rely on them for survival. Indonesia is leading the fight to protect lakes . Since championing the first-ever United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on Sustainable Lake Management in 2022 , the country has helped place lakes at the centre of global water discussions , including during the United Nations 2023 Water Conference and the tenth World Water Forum , in which lakes featured prominently in the Ministerial Declaration . With the recent adoption of the United Nations System-wide Strategy on Water and Sanitation , the stage is set for even greater cooperative action. But why this urgency? Because lakes are under siege .

When you think of water, you might picture rivers rushing to the sea or waves crashing on a tropical shore. But the quiet giants of our freshwater systems – lakes – hold 90 per cent of the planet’s surface fresh water. They are life-support systems for millions, providing drinking water, irrigation, food and recreation. They shelter biodiversity, regulate climate and buffer communities against floods and droughts. Yet, like many freshwater ecosystems, lakes are often overlooked in global discussions on water solutions. From the Great Lakes of Africa to the mountain reservoirs of Asia, lakes sustain billions of lives . They store water, moderate temperature, support fisheries and underpin agriculture. Lakes are also biodiversity havens for countless species. But lake ecosystems are fragile. Today, they are being put under increasing pressure from climate change, pollution and unsustainable land use. Evaporation rates are rising as global temperatures climb. Nutrient runoff from agricul...

  Lake basin planning is the process of developing an agreed set of goals for use of lake basin and the means for achieving those goals typically within a particular time frame and resource constraint. The Plans can be developed at different levels of specificity from local to basin-wide plans, and from sectoral to comprehensive plans. The Development of a plan requires:  • The involvement of stakeholders and instituions concerend with with lake basin managment,  • The use of reliable and timely information,  • The assessment and selection of both policies policies and technological responses to issues, and  • The identification of financing options. The lake basin plan is the mechanism for putting the components together in an effective and fair way for resource development, environmental protection, and social benefit.  The viability of a management plan for lakebasin is strongly dependent on the alignment of the plan with regional and national plans for...

 Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM)  Regardless, the way in which the stress is exerted from the basin to the lentic body of lake water is the same, and a common and integrated approach is needed to address these wide ranging issues in lake basin management . The  ILBM  approach is a way of thinking that assists lake basin managers and stakeholders in achieving the sustainable management of lakes and their basins . It takes into account that lakes have a great variety of resource values whose sus hose sustainable development and use  require  special managemen considerations for their lentic(static) water properties . Good basin management of a lake can be realized only through ILBM , or continuous improvement of lake of lake basin governance that integrates institution, policy, participation, science, technology and funding. The Improvement of the state of world of world’s lakes can be realized by promoting ILBM globally, with long-term and stro...

The global experience of Lake basin management encompasses a wide variety of lessons. Some are at early stage of resource development and the resulting degradation of their environments is minimal. Others have been overexploited and their ecological services functions are suffering from serious degradation. And still others have been introduced with measures for achieving sustainable resource development, use and and conservation . Monitoring The threats: Overfishing due to fine mesh size. Invasive parasitic fish, sea lamprey. Exposed salt on Lake Nakuru shoreline. Impacts of water hyacinth on Lake transportation. Fish pens in Laguna de Bay. Shoreline and littoral habitat destruction. Inflowing sediment plume to Lake Superior. Dry bed of Aral sea. Storm water effluent Industrial wastewater. Smoke from biomass burning covering Lake Victoria. Toxic contamination. Damage from Acid Rain. Increasing lake levels in Himalayas due to glacial melt.

  In fact, the occurrence and management oflake problems is influenced by three characteristics of lentic water systems – • integrating nature • long water retention time and • complex response dynamic. Integrating Nature   Lakes receive pollutant inputs from diverse sources in various forms from their drainage basins and beyond. The inputs to a lake can exist in the form of   • precipitation; flows from rivers and other inflowing channels; heat- and wind-induced energies that cause waves;  • Thermal energies that affect mixing properties; and  • Land-based and airborne pollutants and contaminants, nutrients, and organic substances, both living and nonliving matter.  The integrating nature refers nature refers to the mixing of these in o the mixing of these inputs within a lake so that both resource both resources and problems are disseminated throughout the volume of a lake. Management Implications Integrating nature  The integrating n...

 Different water bodies in the watershed are closely connected to the entire environment. A lake is only one element, involved in the hydrological cycle of the river basin. Lake management and monitorin g is only a part of river basin management and monitoring. Lake- one element of Hydrological Cycle . NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.

In lakes t he vertical distribution of temperature depending on the season is a very important phenomenon. During summer time a clear thermal stratification can be detected in all deeper lakes. In the upper water layer he tempera temperature is highest, highest, and can be at the at the same level  than the temperature in rivers at the same time. The temperature in the deeper layer of the lake is, on the contrary,  usually very cold (5 ery cold (5---10 oC) during  the whole summer stratificatification period. This cold layer is a very important part of the lake from the monitoring point of view. Many slight pollution indications can particularly be detected for the first time just in the hypolimnion, us ion, usually in the ally in the very thin water layer nearest to the bottom sediments. Sedimentation is a very important process in lakes, and has a dominant role in nutrient cycles, and thus also in the eutrophication process. Sedimentation areas must be identified bef...

There is no universal definition for a lake. The International Glossary of Hydrology ( UNESCO and WMO 1992) briefly states, that a lake is an " inland body of water of considerable size" .  In the broadest sense, lakes , wetlands and reservoirs can be considered “standing water” systems. In scientific terms, standing waters are termed “lentic” systems , whereas flowing waters (rivers) are known as “lotic” systems.  • In general, because lakes usually have both inflowing and out flowing rivers, a lake basin can be characterized as a complex combination of both lentic and lotic waters, with this distinction between the two being of great importance for  lake management .  The EU Water Framework Directive , WFD (2000/60/EC) has defined a lake as a body of standing inland surface water. The Annex II of the WFD has in a way also determined also the minimum size of a lake , which should be taken into account to be 0.5 km2 (50 ha).

  Experiences learned indicates that good lake basin management requires six necessary component for effective management response:  Institutions - to manage the lake and its basins for the benefit of all lake basin resource uses;  Policies -to govern people’s use of lake resources and their impacts on lakes;  Involvement of people central to lake basin management;  Technological possibilities and limitations exist in almost all cases;  Knowledge both of a traditional and scientific nature is valuable; Sustainable finances to fund all of the above activities are essential.

Photo Description: The lake is very important for the survival of both humans and animals. Men fish here for part of their sustenance. Animals drink water or make the lake their habitat. Despite its idyllic appearance, the lake is full of crocodiles, and it is dangerous to approach its shores. Selected as a shortlist of 75 finalists for our annual Photo Competition for the WMO 2026 Calendar. Vote for your favourites by simply liking them. To see all finalists or to vote on Facebook, click the link in our bio.

The course aims to improve practitioners’ understanding of SLM and equip them with the tools to create and implement a lake recovery plan that considers diverse stakeholder input and is tailored to the participants’ unique environmental and socioeconomic conditions. The course discusses the main threats facing lakes and existing Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) and Principles of Ecosystem Restoration approaches that form the basis of sustainable lake management. Ways to identify existing baseline conditions, challenges and information gaps are presented, together with opportunities for financing and possible solutions regarding transboundary lake basin challenges. By the end of the course, participants will be able to design, implement, and refine participatory lake recovery plans that promote the sustainable use of lake resources. Learning objectives The course will enable participants to: Gain an overview of the key threats impacting lakes, the new proposed definition of S...

Across the world, lakes fed by rivers, glacial melt, groundwater, rain and snow have played an important role in human civilization, culture and development. They contain most of the liquid fresh water on the planet’s surface , house an array of wildlife, and make farming, fishing and industry possible. They also play an important role in water storage, aquifer recharge and air temperature regulation. Yet, due to climate change, pollution, mining, population pressure, and unsustainable use, they are declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater ecosystems have lost more extent and biodiversity than almost any ecosystem in the world. The planet’s more than 3 million lakes vary enormously in terms of their salinity and chemical composition, area, depth, biodiversity, the volume of water they store, their ownership (whether publicly or privately owned), the extent to which they are polluted, the rate at which they are shrinking, and more. Lake Baikal in Russia is estimated to contai...

 

 

 

Lakes are one of the most vital natural resources on our planet . They serve as a crucial source of fresh water , supporting drinking water supplies, agriculture, and industry. Lakes also play a key role in maintaining biodiversity , offering a habitat for countless species of fish, plants, and wildlife . Beyond their ecological significance , lakes contribute to climate regulation by keeping the planet cool, absorbing the floodwater and storing carbon. Additionally, Lakes provide recreational and economic opportunities , attracting tourism, fishing, and other activities that support local communities. But lakes are affected by a combination of overuse, pollution and climate change. Lake pollution is frequently caused by inflows from fertilizers, contaminants and solid waste being dumped directly, or flushed into lakes via rivers, and this is worsened by global warming – leading, for instance, to more frequent and intense floods. The water levels of lakes are also changing dramati...

 Learn about the diversity of lake ecosystems, explore their vital role in human development and planetary health, uncover the threats they face, and access tools and resources to join UNEP and partners in the mission to conserve, protect, and restore them to their former glory!  Dive into the Healthy and Productive Lakes Portal to take  Action for lakes .

There are enchanted places on Lake Titicaca. Where peace permeates the air when you’re alone with your boat, only you and the lake and nature. Surrounded by birds, the wind blows and the sun shines, and there’s no one around. Stories are told of mermaids and other mirages in the water’s reflection; stories of how you can hear things you never see. In the middle of Lake Titicaca, totora reeds grow, and islands float in crystal water.  Discover the magic lake Titicaca  by its  enchanted places .

  Primarily derived from World Data Bank 2 with numerous reservoir additions from other sources, primarily imagery. The diminishing areal extent of the Aral Sea and Lake Chad derives from recent satellite imagery. Ranked by relative importance , coordinating with river ranking. Includes name attributes.

Natural and artificial lakes contain more than 90% of the Fresh water on the surface of the Earth. Up to 80 % of global wastewater is estimated to enter water bodies untreated with adverse impacts on human and ecosystem health. Rain washes the nutrients in fertilizer into waterways and lakes which can lead to damaging algal blooms, which are predicted to increase by at least 20% by 2050. In half the world’s countries one or more types of freshwater ecosystems are degraded, including rivers, lakes and aquifers.