Links
Document Actions
Below is the list of important links:
All links:
WIO-LaB Partners
On-going initiatives:
NEPAD Coastal and Marine Programme (COSMAR): The overall objective of the NEPAD Coastal and Marine Secretariat (COSMAR) is to contribute to the reversal of the trend of marine and coastal environmental degradation that contributes to, and heightens, poverty in Africa. http://www.nepad.org
WIOMSA: Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) promotes the educational, scientific and technological development of all aspects of marine sciences throughout the Western Indian Ocean region with a view toward sustaining the use and conservation of its marine resources. http://www.wiomsa.org/about_us.htm
IOC/UNESCO: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO provides an essential mechanism for global co-operation in the study of the ocean. It assists governments to address their individual and collective ocean and coastal problems through the sharing of knowledge, information and technology and through coordinated national programs. http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/index.php
World Wildlife Fund: WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world’s biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. www.wwf.org; http://www.panda.org/
World Conservation Union: The Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. www.iucn.org
IAEA/Marine Environment Laboratory: The IAEA-MEL helps Member States understand, monitor and protect the marine environment and co-ordinates technical aspects of international ocean protection, training and assistance programmes. It is also an international centre for analytical quality control services for radioactive and non-radioactive marine pollutants. http://www.iaea.or.at/
UNEP/Nairobi Convention: Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region provides an inter-governmental framework to coordinate marine and coastal programmes in the WIO region. http://www.unep.org/NairobiConvention
Also see UNEP/Regional Seas: http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/
Nairobi Convention Clearinghouse and Information System: The Clearinghouse and information system improves the coordination and participation of the Western Indian Ocean countries in implementing the Action Plan for the protection, management and development of the marine and coastal environment of Eastern Africa Region. http://gridnairobi.unep.org/CHMPortal/ptk
UNEP/GPA: The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities and the Washington Declaration was adopted in 1995. The comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach of the GPA also reflects the desire of Governments to strengthen the collaboration and coordination of all agencies with mandates relevant to the impact of land-based activities on the marine environment, through their participation in a global programme. http://www.gpa.unep.org/
UNEP/SIDS: This website is an information gateway to UNEP's assistance in SIDS. The core of the website is a database that shows UNEP's most relevant activities in SIDS in the last ten years, as well as ongoing and future activities.The site also includes decisions that have been adopted in the context of UNEP's Governing Bodies, information on the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, links to other relevant SIDS sites, and UNEP reports and publications that pertain to SIDS. http://www.sids.unep.org/
African Coelacanth Project (ACEP): Using the coelacanth as an icon, ACEP is exploring the Western Indian Ocean to promote the wise collective management of marine resources, sustainability and an improved quality of life for all countries involved. http://www.acep.co.za/
GEF: The Global Environment Facility, established in 1991, helps developing countries fund projects and programs that protect the global environment. GEF grants support projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. http://dgef.unep.org/
GEF funded International Waters Projects in the WIO:
3 GEF Projects together form a programme entitled “Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Eosystem Programme”. The WIO-LaB project concentrates on land-based activities, the SWIOFP's focus is on commercial fisheries, and ASCLME focuses on the bridging factors between the two and maintains oversight on the overall LME approach.
-The World Bank GEF South Western Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP): The project is aimed at building capacity so that the participating countries may make an informed decision to develop a management strategy for the offshore living resources of the two Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) that extend to the 200 Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. http://www.swiofp.org/
-The UNDP/GEF Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project (ASCLME): The objective of the Project is to work with two other "thematic" GEF international waters projects in the area as part of a "strategic approach" to fill gaps in understanding transboundary living resources of the two LMEs and to build capacity of the participating countries to utilize this improved understanding for more effective management by use of an ecosystem approach. This is a pre-SAP project and will contribute at project's end to a revised TDA/SAP for the LMEs as one outcome in conjunction with the other 2 projects. http://www.iwlearn.net/projects/profile.php?dcid=2042
There are a number of other GEF projects either ongoing or being planned in the region. One of the purposes of the IW Forum (refer to WIO-LaB’s IWF in the ‘Partnerships’ page) is to discuss the synergies and possibilities of cooperation between such activities. Your comments are welcome.
Other GEF Operational projects:
Development and Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa (CMEA): The project aims to augment existing activities by improving coordination and by initiating actions based on new partnerships. The specific objectives of the project are to: Identify areas, sites or living resources of regional and global significance that are suffering measurable degradation (i.e., hot-spots); to determine the sources/causes of this degradation and the associated scales of impact; to identify areas, sites and resources of regional significance that, although not currently degraded, are threatened with future degradation either because of the sensitivity or the magnitude of activity posing the threat; to determine, through root-cause analysis, the fundamental causes of the damage or threat posed; and to design a programme of interventions addressing problems of regional priority that may be presented to the Partnership Conference. http://www.iwlearn.net/projects/africa.php#1
Western Indian Ocean Oil Spill Contingency Planning: The project objective is to protect the environmental integrity and significant biodiversity of a large, biologically rich and relatively pristine part of the Western Indian Ocean from the risks and consequences of oil spills, particularly major (Tier 3) spills. It will achieve this by helping the small island states of Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles comply with the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC). The project will be implemented jointly by the oil industry and the four participating Governments, coordinated by the Indian Ocean Commission, and assisted by the International Maritime Organization, South Africa and France. http://www.iwlearn.net/projects/africa.php#1
Tanzania, Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project: The Project seeks to improve the regulatory and institutional framework for management of marine resources, particularly establishing the links between the marine environment and the fisheries resource and what are expected to be conservative estimates of sustainable commercial exploitation of marine fishery resources. The project will also include data collection (oceanographic and fisheries) that complements other programs operating in the marine environment, particularly those currently funded by the European Union (fisheries), USAID, IUCN and WWF (coastal zone management).
Strategic Partnership for Sustainable Fisheries Management in the LMEs of Sub-Saharan Africa: The 5 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of Sub-Saharan Africa are being threatened on two fronts: from the destruction of critical habitats that provides spawning and nursery grounds for many species of fish in the early stages of their life cycle, and over-harvesting of target fish stocks based on inadequate management of fishing effort (both local and distant fleets). In order to reverse the depletion of fisheries in the LMEs and to assist the individual coastal countries bordering these LMEs to meet the fisheries targets set by the WSSD, a ten-year Strategic Partnership for a Sustainable Fisheries Investment Fund is being proposed. Once potential projects have been identified in a country, the World Bank and other donors would co-finance the project with the GEF. Other partners include FAO and WWF.
GEF funded projects in the Pipeline:
http://www.iwlearn.net/projects/africa.php#1
Atlantic and Indian Ocean SIDS Integrated Water Resource and Wastewater Management: This proposal aims to help African SIDS to: (a) address water-related surface and groundwater supply constraints; (b) remove barriers through development of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) mechanisms and Water Use Efficiency strategies consistent with WSSD; (c) support policy and legislative reforms as well as institutional and human resource capacity building; (d) adopt an integrated and participatory management approach; (e) adopt strategies to deal with extreme and chronic events and to consider more appropriate resource valuation and pricing policies.
Reduction of Environmental Impact from Coastal Tourism: The objective of the Project is to address the negative impacts of tourism on the coastal and marine environment in Sub-Saharan Africa, as identified by the African Process, through promoting the development of sustainable tourism policies and strategies and the implementation of pilot demonstration projects in a number of countries that participated in the African Process. The full project will be designed to engage the private sector and enhance public-private partnerships to enable formulation and implementation of appropriate national and regional policies and strategies for sustainable tourism development in coastal and marine areas, including a policy and strategy framework to guide and promote ecotourism development.
Links to GEF partners:
(Global Environment Facility (GEF) http://www.gefweb.org and its IW:LEARN project http://www.iwlearn.org/)
-U.N. Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/water/index.html
-U.N Environment Programme: http://dgef.unep.org/
-The World Bank Group: http://www.worldbank.org/
WIO-LaB Key National partners and stakeholders:
(see list of members on the ‘Partnerships’ page on this site)
National Focal Points
Members of the regional MWW Task Force
Members of the regional PADH Task Force
Members of the regional Legal and Technical Review Task Force
Members of the Water and Sediment Quality Ad Hoc Working Group
National Institutions
Fourth Meeting of the WIO-LaB Project Steering Committee