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Eastern Africa: an introduction
Dixon Waruinge, Programme Officer, Regional Seas, Nairobi
and Abidjan Conventions
Some of the world’s most valuable coastal and marine
ecosystems are to be found in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO)
region, which comprises five mainland states (Somalia, Kenya,
Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa) and five island states
(Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion
[France]). The region’s mangrove forests, seagrass
beds, seashores, lagoons and coral reefs provide essential
habitats for a rich biodiversity of species. It is conservatively
estimated that the region supports more than 11,000 species
of plants and animals, 15% of which are found nowhere else
on earth. More than 20% of the world’s tropical inshore
fish species are found exclusively in the region, as are
nesting sites for 70% of the world’s marine turtles.
The livelihood and recreation needs of a 30 million people
depend on the same resources.
However, a variety of human activities; including unplanned
urbanization, discharge of untreated municipal waste water
and industrial effluent, destructive fishing practices,
overexploitation of resources, physical alteration and habitat
destruction, are rapidly degrading the marine and coastal
environment of the WIO region. These problems are attributed
in part to low economic growth rates, poverty, rapid population
growth and poor resource management.
The Convention for the Protection, Management and Development
of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African
Region (otherwise known as the Nairobi Convention) and its
two Protocols were signed in 1985 and have been in force
since 30 May 1996. South Africa, which was not a signatory
in 1985, acceded to the Nairobi Convention and associated
Protocols on 16 May 2003. Thus the Nairobi Convention has
now achieved 100% ratification, a rare achievement for a
regional/international convention!
The Convention offers a legal framework and coordinates
the efforts of the countries of the region to plan and develop
programmes that strengthen their capacity to protect, manage
and develop their coastal and marine environment sustainably.
It also provides a forum for inter-governmental discussions
that lead to better understanding of regional environmental
problems and the strategies needed to address them; develops
and implements regional programmes and projects that address
critical national and trans-boundary issues; and promotes
the sharing of information and experiences amongst countries
in the WIO region and with the rest of the world.
The Nairobi Convention is a partnership Convention that
recognises that success in the protection, management and
development of the coastal and marine environment of the
WIO region will depend on effective partnerships that are
built on strategic linkages between governments, NGOs and
the private sector. Since 2001 the Convention has constructed
partnerships with the governments of the region through
the respective focal points and national taskforces, and
with other relevant stakeholders such as research and academic
organizations, NGOs and the private sector.
In recognition of the limitations that exist in expertise
and resources in the WIO region, the Nairobi Convention
has partnered with the Baltic Marine Environment Protection
Commission (Helsinki Commission, HELCOM), and signed a Memoranda
of Understanding with regional and global organizations
such as WWF, IUCN and Western Indian Ocean Marine Science
Association (WIOMSA), among others. Through these partnerships
and linkages, the Nairobi Convention has harnessed a broad-based
support, which is critical for the successful implementation
of its work programme.
The Nairobi Convention provides a coordinating framework
through which contracting parties implement activities that
make a difference at the grass root level. In the fourth
meeting of the Conference of Parties held in July 2004 in
Madagascar, the Contracting Parties discussed a four-year
programme of work that is a significant milestone for the
Nairobi Convention. For the first time in the history of
the Convention, the Conference of Parties approved a fully
funded programme which includes a US$11 million project
to address land-based activities in the WIO region through
demonstration projects in each of the participating country.
The project will complement other ongoing projects, which
include: capacity building and provision of Geographic Information
System equipment to Kenya, Tanzania and Comoros and the
publication of country Atlases of the Coastal and Marine
Environment and regional databases through the EAF/14 project
for the three countries; infrastructure development and
capacity building in marine parks management in Malindi
Marine National Park, Kenya and Dar es Salaam Marine Reserves,
Tanzania, through the International Coral Reef Action Network
(ICRAN); regional training courses in Marine Protected Areas
(MPA) management, in collaboration with WIOMSA and the Coastal
Zone Management Centre of the Netherlands; and the assessment
of management effectiveness in selected MPAs in the region,
in collaboration with IUCN-EARO.
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