While the African culture has been hailed for providing checks and balances on human use of the natural environment, pressures brought about by poverty and modernisation have gradually eroded such ethos, thus raising serious concerns on the need to develop community- based projects for sustainable use of natural resources in the basin countries.

The richness of the environment is an important consideration for settlements. Arid and semi-arid areas are traditionally shunned for settlements, with preference being given to areas of high agricultural potential or areas that are rich in environmental resources.