Introducing the Regional Seas Programme of Eastern Africa: Picking up pace by Rolph Payet

The great currents of the Indian Ocean bathe and nourish the coastline of our extensive region, which stretches from Somalia to the Republic of South Africa and seaward to the island states of the western Indian Ocean.

Our coastal environment features coral reefs along the narrow continental shelves and species-rich mangroves, which abound near river estuaries. Our ecosystems are known for their high biodiversity. Some 22% of the 52 tropical inshore fish families found here are endemic to the region, and five of the world’s seven species of marine turtle nest on our beaches. Our heavily-fished coastal zone supplies commercially important oysters, crabs, shrimp and mullet to East African economies.

Compared to many regions, ours is largely in a pristine state, although it is increasingly threatened by a variety of human activities. These include rapid and unplanned urbanization, discharge of untreated municipal wastewater, industrial effluent in near shore waters and destructive fishing practices.

Eastern Africa joined the Regional Seas Programme in 1980, and five years later the countries of the region (Comoros, France/Reunion, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and United Republic of Tanzania) adopted the Nairobi Convention and Action Plan along with protocols on pollution emergencies and on protected areas and wildlife.
After a slow period when resources were scarce, the programme has again picked up pace. In 1996 the Convention entered into force. A year later the Regional Coordinating Unit was inaugurated in the Seychelles and Contracting Parties to the Convention held their first meeting. To date all nine East African countries have ratified the Convention and South Africa has asked to join.

The watchword for our programme is partnership. Our secretariat, based at UNEP offices in Nairobi, develops the workplan, and collaborates with the RCU and government appointed National Focal Points to oversee its implementation. The programme is based on the work of a multidisciplinary team of regional scientists and government experts from the nine participating countries. The Convention is an umbrella that brings together the region’s governments, scientific institutions; national, regional and international agencies; regional institutions and national NGOs.

Our long-term work programme is organized around the themes of assessment, management, coordination and legal aspects, and includes specific activities on crosscutting topics such as information dissemination and emerging issues. The Nairobi Convention together with UNEP Global Programme of Action have prepared a programme on land-based sources of pollution in the West Indian Ocean, including a project with the Global Environment Facility that will result in a new protocol.

The 1998 severe coral reefs bleaching associated with the El Niño event was a sudden wake-up call. The partnership accepted the challenge implied by this event, and determined to reverse the dramatic degradation of our reefs and their associated ecosystems – mangroves and seagrass beds – from chronic pollution, erosion and marine emergencies.

This is to be our immediate priority, and we have undertaken a series of activities to assess the condition of these ecosystems, map shorelines changes, document land-based and sea-based sources of pollution, and develop management actions to address the causes of their degradation.

Rolph Payet is Interim Coordinator, Regional Coordinating Unit
of the Eastern African Region

Regional Coordinating Unit of the
Eastern African Region (EAF/RCU)
P.O. Box 487, Victoria,
Mahe, Seychelles
Tel: +248 224 644; Fax: +248 322 945/224 500
E-mail: rolph@seychelles.sc