South Asian Seas: an introduction
Prasantha Dias Abeyegunawardene, Interim Co-ordinator
for South Asian Seas, South Asia Co-operative Environment
Programme (SACEP)
The South Asian Seas (SAS) region can be categorized into
two distinct geographical groups. While Maldives and Sri
Lanka are island nations, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan
are situated on the Asian mainland. The region has some
of the largest and biologically rich marine ecosystems such
as the Gulf of Mannar, Atolls of Maldives and Mangroves
of Sundarbans. The presence of perennial rivers such as
the Brahmaputra, Ganges, Godavari, Indus, Kelani, Magna,
etc. have contributed to large networks of backwaters, estuaries,
salt marshes and mangroves.
The SAS also provides habitats for endangered marine turtles,
for example the green and olive ridley turtles. Some of
the largest coastal lagoons of the world such as Chilka
Lake in India and Puttalam lagoon in Sri Lanka are located
within the region. The region has one of the world’s
finest coral ecosystems with the atolls constituting the
entire country of Maldives. The Lakshadweep and Nicobar
group of islands of India and a few regions of Sri Lanka
have fringing reefs.
Current priorities have not changed significantly. The
risk of losing a member country, namely, the Maldives, due
to changing climate and rising seas looms large on the horizon.
The Action Plan has required States to focus specifically
on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Development
and Implementation of National and Regional Oil and Chemical
Spill Contingency Planning, Human Resources Development
through Strengthening Regional Centres of Excellence &
Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.
This, however, does not preclude venturing into other areas.
The scope of ICZM for the SAS is being expanded to promote
the Integrated Coastal Area & River Basin Management
(ICARM) concept, which it is currently implementing through
a Pilot Project in Sri Lanka, which hopefully will lead
to greater activity in this area. Activities are also planned
in the Conservation and Integrated Management of Marine
Turtles in collaboration with IOSEA Marine Turtle Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU).
The SAS Secretariat has worked with a number of coral
reef initiatives to promote the better management of the
regions’ coral reefs. Significant training programmes
have taken place and many more are also planned with respect
to aspects of maritime conventions such as OPRC and MARPOL
73/78. SAS is confident that a MoU on the Regional Oil Spill
Contingency Plan will be signed by all the member countries
and that the Plan will soon be operational. The South Asian
Seas Programme (SASP) and International Maritime Organization
(IMO) are working towards a Regional Action Plan for South
Asia in connection with the Globallast Programme.
Given that land-based sources are the main culprits of
seas and ocean pollution, protecting the seas also requires
addressing land-based issues. The SAS Secretariat functions
as the regional node for GPA programming activities and
has engaged in facilitating activities to achieve the objectives
minimizing land-based pollution. Many major initiatives
have been undertaken under these areas of work such as the
formulation of the Regional Plan of Action for GPA 2003-2006
and work in the area of National Action Programme.
The SAS Secretariat has been collaborating with others
to take forward the activities of the Global International
Waters Assessment (GIWA), in the Bay of Bengal Sub Region
along with UNEP, GEF and Kalmar University of Sweden. Also
in the pipeline is the finalization of a three-year Project:
Development of Harmonized National Environmental Quality
Criteria for Seawater for the South Asian Seas (SEAQUAL)
with the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA).
Negotiations are also ongoing with the UNEP’s GEF
POPs Unit for development of a PDF B Proposal for the SASP.
Along with the other Regional Seas programmes, SASP finds
itself confronted with the great challenges and opportunities
offered by the new information technologies, and will be
working with UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring
Centre (WCMC) to develop its own capacities as well as those
of member countries.
As mandated from the Regional Seas Strategic Directions
agreed upon at the 5th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas
Secretariats, the SASP will encourage and assist countries
to implement their responsibilities towards different global
and regional conventions, as they relate to the Regional
Seas, in a coherent and co-ordinated manner.
The SASP has been a strong advocate for the need of cross
linkages and the sharing of experiences between adjacent
Regional Seas programmes. On this score, SASP is pursuing
links with the East Asian Seas Programme. Perhaps the first
activity where both Secretariats will be involved will be
the follow-up to the FAO Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem
(BOBLME) Project.
SASP believes that Regional Activity Centres will be the
cornerstone of a successful programme. As such, we are pursuing
the idea of setting up such centres in every member country,
each dealing with one of the Action Plan priorities.
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