Formulated under the Nairobi Convention, SAP, acting as a road map for the protection of the coastal and marine environment of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO-LaB), will establish a new regional legal instrument for the sound protection of the marine and coastal environment from land-based sources and activities, UNEP said Wednesday.
'The management of coral reefs, mangroves and the beautiful beaches together with the rich biodiversity associated with these habitats in Eastern and Southern Africa, including the Island states in the Western Indian Ocean, must be protected if we are to preserve a way of life that is fast disappearing,' said Dixon Wa ruinge of the Joint Secretariat for the Nairobi and Abidjan Conventions at the meeting, ending 11 December.
Over 60 million people in eastern and southern Africa live and depend on this coastal economy.
The estimated economic value in the form of goods and services provided by coastal habitats such as coastal and mangrove forests, coral reefs and seagrass beds is over US$ 25 billion per year.
However, rapid population growth, increased resource exploitation, unplanned development and climate change are rapidly destroying and/or degrading this invaluable coastal and marine resource base.
As part of UNEP's effort to demonstrate that it is possible to reverse degradation of the coastal and marine environment, several demonstration projects were initiated and implemented throughout the region.
These focused on the implementation of cost effective solutions to waste management (solid waste, municipal wastewater, etc) and community participation in resource management, ecotourism, coastal ecosystem management and restoration.
In Kenya, Seychelles and Tanzania, for example, UNEP supports the implementation of a demonstration project focused on the application of constructed wetland technology in wastewater treatment - a cost effective and cheap solution to the ever growing problem of wastewater management in developing countries.
In Mozambique, the project focused on the demonstration of community-based approaches for mangrove reforestation and the development of alternative livelihoods in order to ease pressure on the exploitation of coastal natural resources.
Other demonstration projects have been implemented in Comoros, Mauritius and Madagascar.
Through SAP, cost-effective and sustainable technologies and approaches for wast ewater management/treatment (pollution control) include coastal and marine resources utilization and management, promoted through implementation of nine demonstration projects in countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, including the Island states.
Nairobi - Pana 09/12/2009
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