Figure : Bernhard Esau, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources in Namibia, Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in South Africa and Victoria de Barros Neto, Minister of Fisheries in Angola, exchange signed copies of the Benguela Current

Overview on the Benguela Current Commission

The Benguela Current Commission (BCC) is a multi-sectoral inter-governmental initiative of Angola, Namibia and South Africa to promote the sustainable management and protection of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). It provides a vehicle for the aforementioned three countries to introduce an ‘ecosystem approach to ocean governance’ to jointly work together to tackle issues that affect the surrounding marine environment. The BCC is the first commission in the world to deal with the Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) management approach to ocean governance. The commission is focused on the management of shared fish stocks; environmental monitoring; biodiversity and ecosystem health; the mitigation of pollution; and minimizing the impacts of offshore mining and oil and gas production. Sound environmental governance and training and capacity building are at the forefront of its agenda.

The BCC provides a vehicle for Angola, Namibia and South Africa to introduce an “ecosystem approach to ocean governance”. This means that, instead of managing living and non-living resources at the national level, the three countries work together to tackle problems that affect the marine environment.

Figure : Fishing boats lie at anchor at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. Tourists flock to attractions such as Table Mountain, but other activities, such as commercial fishing, also bring economic benefits to the countries of the Benguela Current Large

Institutionalizing Ocean Governance in a Regional Setting:  The Benguela Current Convention Concept

The Benguela Current Commission was established in January 2007 via an Interim Agreement that was signed by the three aforementioned countries. On 18 March 2013, the governments met again to sign the Benguela Current Convention, a groundbreaking environmental treaty that entrenches the Benguela Current Commission as a permanent inter-governmental organization.

Figure : A worker separates oyster spat at a Namibian oyster farm. Aquaculture, shipping, coastal tourism, commercial fishing, marine mining and oil and gas production are the main economic activities in the BCLME

Figure 47: Fishing boats lie at anchor in Porto Amboim, Angola. Fittingly, the Benguela Current Convention was signed in the Angolan town of Benguela, which shares its name with the cold Benguela Current, the source of a wide range of ecosystem goods and services

Once it is ratified, the Benguela Current Convention will commit Angola, Namibia and South Africa to:

-          Preventing and eliminating pollution and taking steps to protect the marine ecosystem against any adverse impacts;

-          Undertaking environmental impact assessments for activities that might have negative impacts on the marine and coastal environment;

-          Collecting, sharing and exchanging data;

-          Where possible, reversing and preventing habitat alteration and destruction;

-          Protecting vulnerable species and biological integrity;

-          Improving human capacity and infrastructure.

All three participating governments have agreed to ratify the Convention by the end of 2013. During the process of ratification, each country will review the text of the Convention, making sure its contents are consistent with national laws and policies. The Convention’s text captures the countries’ intention to conserve and manage the BCLME jointly, for the benefit of present and future generations. The countries will then present the Convention to their heads of state for signature. The Benguela Current Convention will come into force 30 days after it is ratified by each Party.

Global partnerships for balancing industry and sound environmental management

This is no easy task given the fact that the Benguela is richly endowed with both living and non-living resources, including important commercial fisheries, substantial reserves of oil, gas and other minerals, like phosphates. The challenge facing the Benguela Current Commission is to balance the benefits of economic activities like oil and gas extraction with sound environmental management practices. One of the ways in which the BCC is confronting this challenge is by funding and supporting comprehensive science, training and capacity building programmes.

Some Strategic Approaches of the BCC include:

• Research Projects on Marine and Coastal Resources: Generous funding for the BCC Science Programme has been secured from the government of Norway and a number of research projects that are designed to improve understanding of the marine and coastal resources of the Benguela, are underway.

• Capacity Building and Trainings: The Icelandic development agency, ICEIDA, supports the implementation of the BCC’s Training and Capacity Building Strategy and the European Union has provided a grant to fund the ECOFISH project which is expected to modernize and improve the management of key marine fisheries in Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Other supporters include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, though its EAF-Nansen project, and the global conservation organization WWF.

The BCC Institutional Capacity Development: In tandem with the Science, Training and Capacity Building programmes, the BCC is implementing a project to test and strengthen the structure and efficiencies of the Commission. Formally titled “Implementation of the BCLME Strategic Action Programme for restoring depleted fisheries and reducing coastal resources degradation”, the four-year initiative is usually referred to as the “SAP-IMP project”. Its objective is to implement the BCLME Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the development and adoption of an effective trans-boundary LME management structure. The SAP Imp project is funded by the Global Environment Facility which, together with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has played a key role in building the BCC as an institution.

• Improved Trans-boundary Governance through Policy Support: The SAP-IMP project is working towards this goal by assisting the three countries to review and harmonize national policies, legislation and operational practices to ensure a regional trans-boundary management approach to the LME. Support is also provided for capacity building, the adoption of appropriate financial mechanisms, and more effective stakeholder participation across all sectors, with a specific emphasis on community and civil society involvement.

The BCC as a model for sustainable Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) ocean governance

The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem is one of the richest ecosystems on earth and an asset of global significance. The permanent establishment of the Benguela Current Commission bodes well for the future management of the ecosystem, and the wellbeing of the people of the region. This model, if effectively institutionalized and supported, has the potential of developing into a sound model for the governance of large trans-boundary marine ecosystems in Africa, and indeed the world.

By Claire Attwood

For more information about the Benguela Current Commission, please visit www.benguelacc.org

Or alternatively contact Ms. Claire Attwood claire@fishmedia.co.za

Figure 1: The UNIDO UR, Dr. Mpoko Bokanga and the Kilifi County Director of Water Services, Mr. Thomas M. Makanga at the commissioning of the Water Project

An Overview of Water and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

There is an important Swahili saying in East Africa that goes ‘Maji ni maisha’ which is loosely translated to “water is life” in English.  Indeed, while this is a fact, the global truths remain that many communities in the world, particularly in the developing nations, have to manage stressful conditions due to acute water stress.  , The UN Water Assessment Programme suggests that each person needs 20-50 litres of water a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning. Recent statistics released by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), state:”11% of the global population, or 783 million people, are still without access to improved sources of drinking water”. The JMP reports every two years on progress towards the drinking-water and sanitation target under Millennium Development Goal 7, with a specific target number 10 which seeks to; “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water” between 1990 and 2015.

The result is that water borne diseases such as diarrhea, which is the global leading cause of illness and death, continues to plague communities. This explains why, as a result of the Millennium Development Goals commitment, the world has witnessed sustained partnerships between key stakeholders, governments, development partners, donors and water practitioners aimed at tackling the problem of water stress. UNIDO is playing its role in ensuring that this global partnership succeeds to deliver positive results, even as 2015, the envisaged year when the MDG’s need to have been fully achieved, approaches.

From Global to Local Actions: Launching the UNIDO Chipande Water Project

In transforming global policies to local tangible actions, UNIDO through a partnership with the Government of Slovenia supported the acquisition and installation of a water purification unit in Chipande - Matsangoni area, Kilifi County. The water project was designed in 2010 with the principal objective of contributing to an increase in the proportion of the population of the Watamu-Mida community with a clean and reliable supply of drinking water. UNIDO attracted support from the Slovenia Government, which donated water treatment equipment for water purification. This equipment comprises of a standalone mobile unit for water filtration, which uses reverse osmosis. In addition, this treatment plant can effectively operate in an area that is not connected to the electricity grid, since it is embedded with solar and wind energy technologies that can provide required power for the plant.  The water purification plant has since been installed, and was formally launched on 5^th September, 2013. The plant is currently operational and is producing approximately 130 litres per hour of pure drinking water.

The formal launch of the Chipande Water Project was graced by the UNIDO Representative for Kenya and Eritrea, Dr. Mpoko Bokanga and the Kilifi County – Director of Water Services, Mr. Thomas M. Makanga. The launch was attended by a large number of people including; local authority representatives (one Chief and three Sub-Chiefs) two local schools (Chipande Primary School and Soyosoyo Primary School), as well as a number of headmasters and teachers from neighboring schools. Local community households were also strongly represented at the function.

Figure 2: The UNIDO supported Water purification plant utilizes wind and solar energy (Photo: COAST Project)

In his formal launch address, Dr. Mpoko Bokanga reiterated the importance of water to the community, and encouraged all the stakeholders, including the new County Government of Kilifi, to ensure this project was sustainable and beneficial in both the short and long run. Dr. Bokanga further emphasized the need for the local community to “take full ownership of the project’ and ensure that the project was a model of success. In his statement, the Kilifi County Representative, Mr. Thomas M. Makanga appreciated the good stewardship exhibited by UNIDO in this project, and committed further support from the Government to ensure the project was beneficial to the local community. He expressed Kilifi County’s interest in replication of such projects as useful models to enhance access of clean pure water for local use, especially for public schools, and as an avenue for creating sustainable employment opportunities to the unemployed locals.

Way Forward: Sustainable Models for Provision of Clean Water

It is important to reiterate here that the launch of the UNIDO supported Chipande Water Project in Kilifi County in September this year, was not an end in itself, but just the beginning of a journey. As the Chipande Community Water Project Committee, led by Mr. Haroon Papu – a hotelier in the area – sets out to manage the facility and ensure it is productive and beneficial, it is clear that this water purification project is a useful best practice pilot that can demonstrate how a water community project can be sustainably managed. It is with this in mind that the local Committee is sourcing for partnerships with private sector players in the tourism rich belt of Watamu Mida Creek for the purified water to be packaged and sold to these establishments at an affordable rate. In this way, the project will generate sufficient revenues that will be injected back to the project, and thereby evolve into a sustainable model.

For more information visit http://www.micro-water.org/5001.html

Tourism is one the main pillars of the Seychelles economy.  The sector contributes at least 25% to the Gross Domestic Product and provides approximately 15% of direct employment[1].  During the past decade, the industry has grown substantially with new tourism products coming online and achieving record numbers in terms of tourist arrivals.  Over the recent years, the sector has increasingly recorded the highest number of visitors. For instance, statistics for 2012 shows a record with just over 208,000 visitors, the majority from France, Germany, Italy and Russia which account for 60% of the total visitors to the country.

Balancing Seychelles’ Tourism Growth and Preserving its Fragile Biodiversity

The growth in tourism during the past ten years has also resulted in more pressure on the local resources of the country.  As a result of this, the Seychelles Government has had to balance between needs of economic development and the ever rising need to lessen and mitigate the negative impacts of such developments on the environment and its natural resources. This has led the country to shift its focus to market Seychelles as an eco-tourism destination. As a result of this initiative, the tourism industry in Seychelles has become more conscious of sustainability principles and practices resulting in the discovery of more nature-based attractions, products and services within the tourism attractions.

As a fragile ecosystem, the Seychelles archipelago belongs to one of the major biodiversity hotspots in the world. Approximately 47% of the country’s landmass, and some 228km2 of its ocean territory, are under some form of protected status. However, Seychelles’ biodiversity remains at risk from a variety of human induced pressures; making the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity to be of vital importance for the country’s sustainable development. In this regard, the Seychelles Government’s decision to adopt the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL) sought to ensure continuous sustainability of the country’s most vital sectors; tourism and the natural resources it depends on, the environment.

The Use of SSTL Label to Support a Shift to Sustainability in the Tourism Industry in Seychelles

So far, five hotels have been certified with the SSTL label, they are the Constance Ephelia Resort and Spa; the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort and Casino; the Hanneman Holliday Apartment. Two other hotels, the Kempinski Seychelles Resort and the Banyan Tree Seychelles successfully assessed and received their certification on 21^st September, 2013.  There are also a number of hotels that have expressed interest in the label and are at various stages of preparation of accessing the label. Getting hotels to apply for the label involves various correspondence, meetings, and explaining the criteria and their benefits.  As a form of encouragement, the smaller establishments are provided with free technical assistance by the Government.

The concept behind the development of the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL) originated from the Tourism Department, Ministry of Tourism and Transport work in the preparation of Vision 21, a national blueprint, which entailed a comprehensive Tourism Master Plan 2001-2010 and the Seychelles Eco-Tourism Strategy for the 21^st Century (SETS-21). The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism and Transport adopted the SSTL project in 2004 (and later the Seychelles Tourism Board in 2007) and conducted preparatory research on sustainable tourism Labels.  As a follow up, a committee of key stakeholders was established and a set of preliminary criteria developed. The draft criteria were piloted by the STB but the SSTL award scheme could not be implemented due to lack of financial resources. After some 5 year lull, the SSTL project gathered steam towards the end of 2009 through a UNDP-GEF supported initiative to mainstream biodiversity management into production sector activities.

The Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label – How It Works

Incentivizing Sustainability in Tourism:  Lessons from the Seychelles on the SSTL Scheme

Clearly, adopting a green label is not without its challenges. Although the Government of Seychelles is even offering financial concession by waiving taxes on the importation of energy efficient appliances for instance, this is still not a significant enough as an incentive to encourage all the hotels to work to get certification under the label. Some of the smaller hotel operators still feel that they should not have to pay an application fee to participate in the scheme, and need more concessions from the Government.

In addition, for such sustainability schemes to succeed, it is important for the country to lay in place proper supporting policies, facilities and infrastructure, in line with the requirements of such a label. A good example on this issue is the requirement by the SSTL that all participating hotels should separate their waste into various components (organic and inorganic). This criterion is proving to be a problem to execute since the country lacks adequate waste recycling facilities locally which would have benefited immensely from the readily sorted raw materials. However, the government is aware of this and is working to address it.

Finally, to ensure the effectiveness of such a label, various things have to be taken into consideration. Like the SSTL, which was developed in line with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria, the label should be aligned to such a widely recognized and respected framework, making it easier for such a label to be recognized and adding to its global credibility.  It is important to also set in place an independent Awards Panel to endorse the certifications and to assure transparency for the programme. The label also requires a strong awareness creation and capacity building programme at the initial stage of the project to generate more interest and buy-in The COAST Project is indeed proud to be associated with the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label, and acknowledges the label as a useful Best Available Practice that can be easily replicated within tourist destinations in Africa and beyond.

Further Reading

[1]Seychelles Tourism  Board

Tourism in coastal areas is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the industry that holds a promise of contributing to the economic and social wellbeing of the destination countries. Yet, the local residents of most popular destinations are more likely to experience the uglier side of tourism trade than any real promise of tantalising riches. In essence, communities have to contend with negative impacts such as rising pollution and degradation of sensitive marine and coastal areas from poorly planned developments, competition for fresh water and over-exploitation of scarce resources to feed the tourism industry, rising real estate prices, displacement of local fishing and farming communities, and irreversible damage to local culture. The good news is that there is a growing recognition that not all forms of tourism are equal and that tourism can be managed to deliver both quality visitor experiences and benefits to local environment and biodiversity, economies and livelihoods rather than simply draw in large volumes of visitors.

The COAST Project Working to Maximize the Value of Marine Ecosystems

In recognition of these challenges, the COAST Project is working to apply, through a series of practical demonstration projects in different thematic areas, a number of Best Available Practices and/or Best Available Technologies (BAPs/BATs) within selected coastal tourism destinations in Sub Saharan Africa. These demonstration projects are all aimed to contribute to the reduction of negative environmental impacts resulting from land based, tourism sector actions and pollutants. To achieve this in the Reef and Marine Recreation Management Thematic Area, EcoAfrica are the UNIDO sub-contracted leader working across three countries (Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania). The RMRM work focuses on reef surveys and GIS mapping of sensitive areas and damaged sites within the demonstration sites and includes management planning, awareness creation and capacity building on reef management and conservation to reduce pollution, loss of biodiversity and other negative impacts to the reef and marine areas.

All this is in recognition to the fact that sensitive marine and coastal ecosystems, specifically coral reefs, sea grasses and mangroves, are highly productive and provide significant economic goods and services. These include coastal storm protection, carbon sequestration, and feeding and breeding habitats for a great diversity of marine organisms including commercially important fish species. They also host a growing number of visitors and recreational activities with some of the main recreational attractions provided by marine ecosystems including glass-bottom-boat viewing, snorkelling, recreational and sport fishing and SCUBA diving. Assessments of the economic benefits generated from such activities are estimated at over $9 billion[1]globally. The question remains as to how much of this value translates into direct benefits to local communities, whose livelihood depends on these resources.

What does the Reef and Marine Recreation Management Thematic Area Seek to Achieve?

Within the broader COAST Project implementation framework, the objective of the Reef and Marine Thematic Area is to develop and test responsible management of reef and marine recreation through the promotion and testing of sustainable tourism Best Available Practices/Technologies (BAPs/BATs) at selected sites. This includes the documentation and dissemination of the results achieved.

This is done through:

1. Raising awareness on the conservation values and issues facing the sustainable management of East African marine and reef assets among all users groups;
2. Working with local stakeholders to design and develop sustainable marine recreation and conservation practices and technologies;
3. Supporting capacity building and skills enhancement relating to marine recreation management in the priority areas;
4. Studying and testing on a micro scale, the possibilities of livelihood diversification for local coastal residents through participatory tourism planning; and
5. Basing all of the above micro scale interventions on the best available scientific knowledge of the natural resource asset base.

The COAST Project is focusing its RMRM work in three demonstration sites in the East African region: Tofu, Barra and Tofinho (Mozambique), Bagamoyo (Tanzania) and Watamu (Kenya). All these areas have since project inception been taken through intensive reef assessments, GIS mapping, capacity building and awareness creation. While all these sites are in the Western Indian Ocean region, it is important to note each site experiences different tourism-related realities and issues, as summarised below;

Bagamoyo Demo Site in Tanzania

Emerging Results and Lessons: Opportunities for Positive Change through the COAST Project Work

As a result of COAST Project interventions in the three countries, a number of opportunities have emerged through the RMRM activities for practical improvement of management of reef and marine recreation in each of the Demo Sites. Some of these include:

• Stronger collaboration among decision-makers, and between government, local communities, researchers, the private sector and other user groups, to ensure more informed decision-making and improved enforcement of regulations governing coastal development and marine use.
• Stronger community involvement in planning and management of marine areas and resources to ensure that their voices are heard and that pressure on the marine environment is reduced through strengthening local benefits from the tourism sector.
• Greater awareness of the uniqueness, value and sensitivity of the ecosystems upon which the tourism industry is based through greater access to information within the Demo Site, particularly to visitors, decision makers and other user groups.
• Improved networking and collaboration among the private sector operators to self-regulate activities and assume more responsibility for ensuring that visitors behave responsibly.
• Enhanced support to the local fishing communities to undertake sustainable fishing methods and enhance benefits more directly from tourism. This includes linking more with the private sector to improve conservation and management of marine and coastal resources.
• Improved capacity building of tour guides on aspects of marine recreation to ensure safe and sustainable marine recreation activities.
• Enhanced sensitization and awareness creation of existing policies and legislation governing the coastal and marine resource targeting the key resource users.
• Harmonization of institutional roles and responsibilities to clarify roles and responsibilities in terms of governance of the marine resources.
• Improved monitoring of ecosystems at the most popular/ most heavily used tourist sites and use of the information to address the threats facing these sensitive areas.

The Bigger Picture: Towards Improved Reef Management and Recreation for Sustainable Coastal Tourism in Africa

While one could argue that the inherent value of marine natural ecosystems and organisms should be enough to justify their protection, the reality, especially on the coastlines of East Africa, is that there are many competing and sometimes conflicting uses of marine resources and ecosystems. This continues to pose numerous challenges to managers who need to balance the competing uses and the needs of the different user groups within natural parameters required for healthy functioning ecosystems. Consideration of the values of sensitive marine ecosystems in management decisions also helps to ensure that some of the benefits from tourism contribute to the economic well-being of impoverished coastal communities.

For a highly extractive industry such as tourism to be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, the industry needs to respond to the needs and aspirations and sensitivities of the local realities. The placement of local coastal communities central to future planning and management is critical to any efforts to improve the management of marine resources. It is absolutely clear that if tourism in coastal areas in the region is to be sustainable over the long-term, maintaining healthy marine ecosystems is critical and a change of mind-set amongst tourism operators and approach towards greater collaboration and sharing of benefits with local residents is essential. Increased responsibility by the tourism industry players through self-regulation and collaboration is key, especially in areas with a weak legal framework, a lack of adequate information for decision-making or weak monitoring and compliance of existing laws.

Figure 6: COAST Project guide training

FURTHER READING

[1] Conservation International. 2008. Economic Values of Coral Reefs, Mangroves, and Seagrasses: A Global Compilation. Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA.

[2] INE, 2009. National Institute of Statistics. Internet material: Accessed APRIL 2013.

This year’s GEF International Waters (IW) Conference was held in Barbados from 28^th – 31^st October 2013. These annual IW conferences are aimed at facilitating cross-sectoral and portfolio-wide learning and experience sharing, targeting transboundary water systems, such as shared river basins, lakes, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. With a portfolio comprising of 242 projects to date and some US$1.4 billion of GEF grants invested in 149 different countries, this thematic area is of critical importance to the subject of sustainable development. It is important to note here that since the inception of the GEF in 1991, the IW portfolio continues to deliver substantive results and replicable experiences to be scaled up and mainstreamed globally.

The IWC7 conference brought together approximately 215 participants, including GEF IW project managers, representatives of beneficiary countries, non-governmental organizations, transboundary management institutions, UN Agencies, and the private sector to deliberate on this year’s theme of “Economic Valuation as a Tool to Bridge the Science-Policy Gap”. Mr. Ludovic Bernaudat, the Project Manager, represented the COAST Project during this important fete in the calendar of the IW thematic area.

Figure 1: Participants at the IW7 Conference in Barbados pose for a photo during the workshop

The COAST Project at the GEF IW7 Conference

During this year’s GEF IW7 Conference, the COAST Project showcased a number of materials and informational products to sensitize the participants on the various project outputs and deliveries. The project displayed banners showcasing project activities at the regional level and in Tanzania and Senegal. Project brochures displaying a summary on the activities at the country level, lanyards and COAST Project branded USB sticks were also distributed to the IW7 conference participants. In addition to these promotional materials, the project also displayed actual eco-tourism products generated by various beneficiaries. Of particular note here are soaps developed by Bagamoyo beneficiaries in Tanzania and crafts from recycled wastes from the ALMA Association in our Inhambane demo Site.  All these were aimed at enhancing the visibility of the COAST Project among the participating delegates (To see a list of all posters, banners and brochures produced by the COAST Project check here).

Figure 2: A section of participants at the IW7 Conference pose for a photo during the workshop

In addition to the above, our COAST Project website (http://coast.iwlearn.org/en;) was nominated among 10 other IW: LEARN supported websites to compete for the IW Wonderful Outstanding Web (WOW) Award Competition. (To see the full list of nominated websites http://iwlearn.net/websitetoolkit/wow/iw-wow-2013;).  Resulting from the competition which saw accepted entries participate in a blitz of online sensitization campaigns aimed at soliciting for votes, a group of judges, consisting of five experts (on transboundary management and ICT) rated the finalists based on the criteria of content, technical component, timeliness and visual appearance. The Top 5 websites were then announced on the opening day of the IWC7 at the further judged by the IWC7 participants during the conference. Our COAST Project Website was ranked 4^th, after this rigorous competition and received positive reviews from the hundred voters and panel of IW: LEARN judges. The eventual winner for this competition was the Coral Triangle Knowledge Network (CTKN), a knowledge and social network facility supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (to see the winning website, check here http://www.ctknetwork.org/).

Figure 3: The IW7 Conference in Plenary

Conclusion and Way forward from the IW7

From the foregoing, it is important to note that the COAST Project had a good showing at this year’s IW7 Conference. The conference was also useful in helping the participants discuss and agree on best practices in economic valuation for ecosystem services. The conference provided a sound framework to comprehensively evaluate natural and environmental resources, presented various methods to assess the value of ecosystem to human well-beings as well as examples from marine and freshwater ecosystems to illustrate the different concepts and methods. The closing plenary of the IW7 featured reflections on the IWC7 and the key take-home messages from each of the principal sessions.

The next IW conference, IW8, will be hosted by the East Asian Seas region in 2014.

To Read more on the IW7 Conference, see here http://iwlearn.net/abt_iwlearn/events/conferences/iwc7-2013/index_html;

Pour télécharger la version en français, cliquez ici

New COAST Project Publication

In the past five years, UNWTO, UNIDO and UNEP have actively collaborated to address sustainable tourism development in coastal areas in Africa, through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project, titled “Collaborative Actions for Sustainable Tourism (COAST)”, covering nine Sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles and Tanzania).

The project developed best practices on reef and marine recreation management, environmental management systems and eco-tourism, and undertook a desk study and field research in the nine countries to identify national and local mechanisms for sustainable tourism governance and management.

Addressing Sustainability Issues in the Tourism Sector in Africa

Sustainable Tourism Governance and Management in Coastal Areas of Africa presents the results of the research carried out within the framework of the COAST project. It builds on the UNWTO and UNEP publication Making Tourism More Sustainable – A Guide for Policy Makers, by assessing how to apply sustainability principles and policy instruments for coastal tourism development in Africa. Detailed recommendations are provided to strengthen governance and management to ensure that tourism serves as a positive force in coastal areas, helping to conserve environments and biodiversity, minimising environmental impact and contributing to the wellbeing of local communities. While the field research was conducted in the nine COAST project countries, the study also has a generic relevance and can provide guidance for sustainable coastal tourism in other countries, especially in
Africa and the developing world.

This report has been prepared for UNWTO by Dr Richard Denman, consultant with The Tourism Company, United Kingdom, who also undertook the studies in The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Seychelles. The studies in Cameroon and Senegal were undertaken by Lionel Bécherel and in Mozambique by Jeremy Gottwals. The valuable input of the COAST project focal points, demo site coordinators, national experts appointed to assist with this study and everyone consulted during the course of the work is also gratefully acknowledged.

The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says.

A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats.

They are being heated by climate change, turned slowly less alkaline by absorbing CO2, and suffering from overfishing and pollution.

The report warns that dead zones formed by fertiliser run-off are a problem.

It says conditions are ripe for the sort of mass extinction event that has afflicted the oceans in the past.

It says: “We have been taking the ocean for granted. It has been shielding us from the worst effects of accelerating climate change by absorbing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.

“Whilst terrestrial temperature increases may be experiencing a pause, the ocean continues to warm regardless. For the most part, however, the public and policymakers are failing to recognise - or choosing to ignore - the severity of the situation.”

It says the cocktail of threats facing the ocean is more powerful than the individual problems themselves.

Coral reefs, for instance, are suffering from the higher temperatures and the effects of acidification whilst also being weakened by bad fishing practices, pollution, siltation and toxic algal blooms.

Atmospheric threshold

IPSO, funded by charitable foundations, is publishing a set of five papers based on workshops in 2011 and 2012 in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN’s) World Commission on Protected Areas.

The reports call for world governments to halt CO2 increase at 450ppm. Any higher, they say, will cause massive acidification later in the century as the CO2 is absorbed into the sea.

It urges much more focused fisheries management, and a priority list for tackling the key groups of chemicals that cause most harm.

It wants the governments to negotiate a new agreement for the sustainable fishing in the high oceans to be policed by a new global high seas enforcement agency.

The IUCN’s Prof Dan Laffoley said: "What these latest reports make absolutely clear is that deferring action will increase costs in the future and lead to even greater, perhaps irreversible, losses.

"The UN climate report confirmed that the ocean is bearing the brunt of human-induced changes to our planet. These findings give us more cause for alarm – but also a roadmap for action. We must use it."

'Extinction risk'

The co-coordinator, Prof Alex Rogers from Oxford University has been asked to advise the UN's own oceans assessment but he told BBC News he had led the IPSO initiative because: "It’s important to have something which is completely independent in any way from state influence and to say things which experts in the field felt was really needed to be said."

He said concern had grown over the past year thanks to papers signalling that past extinctions had involved warming seas, acidification and low oxygen levels. All are on the rise today.

He agreed there was debate on whether fisheries are recovering by better management following examples in the US and Europe, but said it seemed clear that globally they were not.

He also admitted a debate about whether overall climate change would increase the amount of fish produced in the sea. Melting sea ice would increase fisheries near the poles whilst stratification of warmer waters in the tropics would reduce mixing of nutrients and lead to lower production, he said.

He said dead zones globally appeared to be increasing although this may reflect increased reporting.

"On ocean acidification, we are seeing effects that no-one predicted like the inability of fish to detect their environments properly. It’s clear that it will affect many species. We really do have to get a grip on what’s going on in the oceans," he said.

For this story check here

Nairobi, 22 February 2012 - Starting from  an office above a supermarket 40 years-ago, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was today modernized into a strengthened and upgraded institution better able to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

The decision, by ministers of the environment meeting at the UNEP Governing Council, implements the call by Heads of States and governments in the Future We Want forged at the close of Rio+20 last June.

Governments this week also backed more predictable, stable and increased funding for UNEP from the UN Regular Budget by 2014 -underlining increasing confidence in UNEP's ability and role to deliver the environmental dimension of sustainable development.

Ministers meeting for the first time under universal membership of 193 member states- again as a result of the decisions taken and adopted last year at Rio+20 and the UN General Assembly later in the year- adopted a welter of other decisions relating to the way UNEP will operate and work as the global platform for environmental policy-making and action over the coming years and decades.

Governments called for  the transformation of the existing Governing Council into a UN  Environment Assembly of UNEP and to build stronger links between UNEP's science-based Global Environment Outlook process and its ministerial meetings - further implementing the call  by member states at Rio + 20 to strengthen the science-policy interface.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said at the close: "The theme at this historic, universal membership Governing Council was Rio+20: From Outcome to Implementation - and that was precisely what happened over the past five days".

"Ministers responsible for the environment implemented the strengthening and upgrading of UNEP to an institution better equipped and resourced to serve the planet and its people to meet the ever growing challenges posed by ecosystem degradation to the growth of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere while catalyzing transformational change to seize the equally fast growing opportunities for a sustainable development path change," he said.

"Meanwhile ministers responsible for the environment took also took forward the wider implementation of the Rio+20 outcome document - the Future We Want - across a broad sweep of issues and actions from support for 30 countries to make a green economy transition; building a stronger science-policy interface, and strengthening the exercise of environmental laws to fast tracking action on persistent and emerging issues, support for renewable energy under the UN climate convention and the decade long initiative on decoupling natural resource use from economy growth - in short the 10YFP," said Mr Steiner.

"Heads of State at Rio+20 grasped the sobering science, laid out in reports like UNEP's Global Environment Outlook-5, and put in the foundations for new pathways and new directions to achieve a sustainable century - here ministers and delegations from over 150 nations have been the architects and designers of an evolved UNEP with greater authority, impact and pathways to deliver the Future We Want," he added.

Among the wealth of other decisions taken at the first Universal Membership of the UNEP Governing Council were:-

• A UNEP-led consortium will host and coordinate the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) which will be the implementing arm of the Technology Mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The CTCN will work on leap-frogging the technical and financial hurdles to the even greater take-up of clean and renewable energies to low carbon tranportation and energy efficient buildings.

• Full operationalization of a decade-long initiative to decouple economic growth from unsustainable use of natural resources and pollution generation-the 10 Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP for SCP)

By Ulrike Kloiber and Sibylle Riedmiller, Chumbe Island Coral Park

“……..A notable example of payments for ecosystem services within the context of coral-reefs habitat is provided by the private and non-profit Chumbe Island Coral Park in the United Republic of Tanzania… local fishermen benefit from the Reef Sanctuary, as research findings confirmed that fish inside the protected no-take zone travel out and increase their yields in the vicinity”..

UN Secretary General’s report to the General Assembly on Protection of Coral Reefs for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development (2011)

1. Background

From aid project manager to social entrepreneur, founder and director of Chumbe Island Coral Park (CHICOP), Ms. Sibylle Riedmiller, followed her passion for the underwater world when she began efforts in 1992 to create the world’s first privately-managed marine protected area at Chumbe Island in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania. This hitherto uninhabited small coral island 12 kilometers southwest of Zanzibar town is now a fully managed nature reserve that protects a 30-hectare no-take coral reef sanctuary, where fish and corals thrive, and a coral-rag forest reserve covering most of the island's 22 hectares that harbors rare and endangered animals.

Over the last two decades, CHICOP has created a model of financially, ecologically and socially sustainable Marine Park management, where a collaboration of actions for sustainable coastal tourism supports employment, conservation, research and environmental education for local people. Currently top ranking on TripAdvisor.com (a traveler information and feedback website portal) gives evidence that Chumbe Park has also become a successful sustainable tourism destination, where income from visitors is channeled back into preserving this little stretch of paradise for future generations.

Maintaining the integrity of the island's pristine ecosystems for posterity is CHICOP's mission. In this regard, not a single tree was cut and only empty clearings left by nature were used when the Visitors' centre and seven eco-bungalows were built. Combining traditional building styles and materials with modern eco-architecture, the technologies for water and energy provision and waste avoidance and recycling of the eco-lodge took full advantage of sunlight, natural ventilation and rainwater, with rainwater catchment, vegetative gray water filtration, composting toilets, solar water heating and photovoltaic power generation.

The Chumbe model of sustainable tourism that develops and funds a marine park and provides benefits to local people has generated major interest among international conservation organizations and has won CHICOP numerous prestigious awards and global recognition.[1]

Figure : A bird’s eye view of the eco-lodges on Chumbe Island (Photo courtesy CHICOP)

Joining the ZEITZ Long Run Initiative

In the year 2008, CHICOP became a founding member of the flagship program of the Jochen Zeitz Foundation, the “Long Run Initiative[i]". This initiative promotes and certifies tourism enterprises, which directly manage, or significantly contribute to the management of a natural area of conservation value and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability through the 4Cs: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. Performance and processes across the 4Cs are assessed through a certification scheme that awards destinations with the Global Ecosphere Retreat (GER) distinction for the highest level of sustainability.

In working towards this certification, CHICOP shared and discussed achievements in a challenging environment and lessons learned in the two decades of Chumbe history. After going through a rigorous assessment process by external experts,  CHICOP become the first GER certified Long Run Destination in 2011, in recognition of promoting marine conservation in Tanzania and setting an example for genuine sustainable tourism and environmental education and awareness creation.

1. Sustainable Tourism at CHICOP and how it benefits local communities

Chumbe Island Coral Park is a private investment into marine and forest conservation with a commercial component, the eco-lodge, which generates the income needed to run the park. Therefore, revenue generated from tourism is reinvested in supporting park management and environmental education programs. This includes various economic incentives for local communities since the lodge opened in 1998.

Minimizing environmental impacts – water, energy and waste management

One of CHICOP’s main objectives is to manage the eco-lodge as a model for sustainable tourism development, providing high-quality services to visitors while promoting environmental awareness through education programs for the local community and all island visitors. Like many developing countries, Zanzibar does not have an effective/efficient solid waste management system in place. Due to lack of infrastructure and public services, waste is burned in the streets or dumped in illegal sites, creating major public health concerns and environmental hazards. To minimize environmental impacts, CHICOP restricts the number of visitors to the island and avoids the purchase of non-biodegradable products. Where possible, goods are sourced locally and transported in locally made, biodegradable baskets. Non-cooked fruit and vegetable waste is collected, composted and used for the composting toilets on the island, while non-biodegradable waste is removed from the island and, where possible, recycled. Only biodegradable detergents and soaps are used and laundry is washed off the island.

During the year 2012, CHICOP also conducted waste recycling workshops with the help of volunteers, who for example taught local staff how to turn candle stubs from guest dinners into recycled coconut candles. Workshops were held to create hands-on learning tools for visiting students using only recycled materials to illustrate how trash can have a ‘second life’. Such activities illustrate CHICOP’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the commitment to share knowledge and the importance of waste management through practical learning experiences.

Figure : CHICOP employs the exclusive use of renewable energy with these solar panels powering the facility (Photo courtesy CHICOP)

1. Communication & Environmental Awareness Activities & Engagement of Partners

While coastal communities depend on fishing for their survival in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, there is little evidence of traditional reef management or sensitization about the limitations of this fragile resource. By and large, Government policies, legislation and management capacity fall short in meeting the challenges of rapid environmental degradation and tend to favor investments into unsustainable development and environmentally destructive products and practices.

Figure 19: CHICOP's environmental Educator demonstrates snorkeling techniques to a group of Zanzibar girls on an education tour (Photo: CHICOP)

Therefore, public communication, education and awareness-raising on the vulnerability of the marine and forest ecosystems and the importance of sustainable tourism are key pillars of CHICOP’s Environmental Education (EE) programs, which are regularly conducted on Chumbe Island and in Zanzibar. The programs offer free island excursions, training workshops and peer education sessions for students, teachers and community members. Based on the approach of ‘Education for Sustainable Development[2]’, these programs help to close the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice, involve different level of learners and seek solutions to environmental concerns that build on indigenous knowledge, culture and traditions. By the year 2012, over 6000 school children and 900 teachers had visited the island to experience the natural environment with its diverse ecosystems.

The experiential hands-on activities for schoolchildren and all visitors include guided snorkeling in the reef and walking along the forest trails using all senses such as sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell while ensuring that the teaching contents link up with the national school curricula. CHICOP also supports schools through environmental talks/seminars and helps organize environmental clubs, which are much encouraged by a popular competition for a sustainable future for schools, i.e. the Chumbe Challenge Environmental Award.

The role of research and education: CHICOP started operations in 1991 by conducting baseline surveys of the ecosystems and marine and forest flora and fauna of the island. This was meant to establish the conservation value of the Chumbe reef and coral-rag forest and to convince the Government of Zanzibar that the island should indeed be protected. However, it was clear that the park could not be developed without co-operation of local communities as well. Research and training on marine and forest conservation and sustainable tourism development for income generation was therefore at the center of project implementation. Enforcement of no-take marine parks is challenging around the world, especially when local communities rely on fishing for their livelihood. On the other hand, after a few years of effective closure, the local fishermen benefit from marine parks, as these create breeding sanctuaries for fish and other marine organisms, which restock adjacent and upstream overfished areas, the famous 'spill-over effect'. This was discussed by the CHICOP management in village meetings in the early nineties to win co-operation, and it was agreed that fishermen should be employed and trained as Park Rangers to educate their fellow fishermen about the purpose and benefits of the closure. This approach worked very well. As soon as the spill-over effect became noticeable in the mid nineties, enforcement was no problem anymore, and local fishermen now respected the park boundaries and reported that the catch outside of the boundaries had increased since the establishment of the park.

Some of the fishermen were trained in data collection for research, park management and monitoring techniques for the reef and the forest to become park rangers.  They also learnt the English language and guidance skills required for island visitors, including environmental education for local schoolchildren. All other island staff, such as cooks, cleaners & waiters are also trained periodically to acquire the basics of reef ecology, forest ecology, English language skills, eco-tourism and eco-technology.

Capacity building of government staff: CHICOP has also helped to raise conservation awareness and understanding of the legal and institutional requirements among government officials. The very innovative and unusual investment proposal of a privately established and managed Marine and Forest reserve required the involvement and approval of altogether seven Government departments. This took over four years to negotiate, followed by intense discussions on the Management Plans 1995 - 2016, which were developed by CHICOP consultants with wide stakeholder participation. This lengthy process has gained CHICOP political support and prepared the ground for improvements in the legal framework for marine conservation, environmental protection and management. Furthermore, an Advisory Committee that was established in the year 1995 includes village leaders, government officials, local academics and the CHICOP management, and meets at least twice per year for discussions about achievements and challenges.

1. Conclusion on Results, Experiences from Chumbe Island

From our work in Chumbe, through lessons accumulated over a period of 2 decades, we have established that private management of marine protected areas can be effective and economically viable, even in a challenging political environment. Investment in conservation and in environmentally sound technologies, as well as the employment of additional staff for park management and environmental education programs, raises costs considerably, making it difficult to compete with other tourism enterprises. Favorable conservation and investment policies and taxation would encourage such initiatives, but are not currently available in Tanzania. Close cooperation with government agencies in establishing and protecting this reserve has enhanced the understanding of environmental issues among local and national authorities. In addition, the establishment of the Chumbe nature reserve has benefited local communities by generating income, employment, market for local produce, developing new work skills, and restocking commercial fish species in adjacent marine areas (spill-over). To avoid user conflicts, it is easier to preserve an area that is not used intensively for subsistence or other economic endeavors by local communities.

With the threats of climate change, marine conservation needs more political support from governments and the international conservation community, as well as recognition of the contributions that the private sector can make to both, effective conservation area management and livelihoods of local people on the ground. Long-term security of tenure and contracts, together with a favorable political, legal and institutional environment are needed to attract more private and community investment in marine conservation particularly in the developing world. The Chumbe Island Coral Park project looks forward to sustain these in the months and years to come.

[1] Some of the most prestigious of the approximate 20 of international awards won by CHICOP from 1999 to date include: 1999 British Airways Tourism For Tomorrow Award - Global Winner; 2000 Global 500 UNEP Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award – Winner; 2001 Ecotourism Destination Award - World Winner; National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD), 2012 Sustainia Award; among others.

[2] The Education for Sustainable Development toolkit is available at http://www.esdtoolkit.org/esd_toolkit_v2.pdf;

[i] Website (www.thelongrun.com; and www.zeitzfoundation.org; )

United Nations Secretary‐General Ban Ki‐moon in a video message for the International Year of Water Cooperation 2013

Introduction

At the dawn of the new millennium in the year 2000, the global community committed to a raft of noble goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These were broad policy statements ranging from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and achieving universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. As the clock ticks towards the year 2015, many are closely watching whether delivery on these goals was achieved or not. As development practitioners churn out numbers and statistics to evaluate whether the goals of halving the poverty levels; enhancing education access; improving maternal health; reducing the infant mortality rates at birth; and others have been met, there is a sobering realization that at the centre of all these efforts, is the MDG goal on ensuring environmental sustainability, with a specific target of halving by the year 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water All these MDG’s will however rely heavily on MDG number 8, on   developing a global partnership for development. (www.un.org/milleniumgoals).

Indeed, this is the central message in the year 2013, which is the year of world cooperation for ‘water as an ingredient for global cooperation for peace, prosperity and sustainable development’. During the World Water Day celebration on 22^nd March this year, the global community leaders made it inherently clear that the fulfillment of basic human needs, the environment, socio‐economic development and poverty reduction are all dependent on water. In this regard, cooperating around this precious resource is key for security, poverty eradication, social equity and gender equality.

The MDG’s Goals on Water Access: From Policy to Action

In an effort to transform these goals into tangible actions, UNIDO through a partnership with the Government of Slovenia is working to support a water treatment project in Kilifi County, Kenya for the local community around the Chipande Primary School.  The water project was designed in 2010 with the principal objective of contributing to an increase in the proportion of the population of the Watamu-Mida community with a clean and reliable supply of drinking water. UNIDO attracted support from the Slovenia Government, which donated water treatment equipment for water purification. This equipment comprises of a standalone mobile unit for water filtration, which uses reverse osmosis. The equipment is expected to produce 130 litres per hour of pure potable water, and hence lead to the purification of the saline water that has been a permanent feature of the Chipande area for decades now.

Figure : A picture of the water treatment equipment. The equipment utilizes reverse osmosis technology.

This equipment is expected to reduce the water borne diseases associated with the use of unhygienic water by the local communities. In this regard, the water project is an example of a tangible way that UNIDO is partnering with the Government of Slovenia, as part of the efforts by the global community, towards the eventual realization of the MDG goal number seven of ensuring environmental sustainability that includes addressing the issue of access to safe drinking water. The COAST Project is providing technical  support and working to mainstream some of the key results that will emerge from this project through the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) ( a Government of Kenya agency), for the benefit of the local communities and the residents of the Watamu Demo Site. This project also builds upon the current activities being executed by the COAST Project in the Watamu Demo Site.

Community Organization in Support of the Water Project

According to Mr. Haroon Papu, the Chair of the Chipande Water Project Community, the water problems in the area arising from the high deposits of salt in the water are a major cause of concern. The entire Chipande community comprising of close to 6000 members with a vibrant mix of -community schools, churches and private hotels suffer from a lack of potable water resulting in high incidence of water borne diseases. This background came in handy when in the year 2010, the Regional Technical Coordinator of the COAST project, Dr. Hugh Gibbon, visited the area, interacted with the local communities and noted the water stress problems affecting the area. This then served to provide the impetus for the identification and eventual selection of the site for the construction of the water purification plant.

The Water Project’s connection with the Coast project is through the thematic area of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). The water project uses a Best Available Technology (BAT) which is reverse osmosis equipment powered by solar and wind power source. This technology is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and the knowledge and expertise for its management is transferred to the community through on-site training.

The water project formally began on 25^th May 2011 with the formal agreement between UNIDO and the local communities on the details of the water project at the Chipande Primary School site, in Kilifi County. In the wake of these discussions, the local community then came together and formed a local community group comprising of the local chief, the school headmaster, elders and women representatives, to spearhead the local efforts required for the success of this project. This committee of 15 members handles issues ranging from identifying the site, obtaining requisite approvals from local leadership, provision of community support, and enhancing community buy in and ownership. It also expects to continue providing an oversight role for the sustainable use of the water from this project. This includes ensuring that the sustainability plans for this project are firmly in place.

“It has been a long and hard road, people expected results overnight. Community members had different expectations, but these all bordered on availability of good, healthy water in the area”, Mr. Haroon Papu, Chair of the community group emphasizes.

Figure : The water project will benefit Chipande Primary School by providing them with clean water. Currently, the school relies on this saline water for household use (Photo: COAST Project)

During this preparatory phase, the Chipande Water Project Committee has kept going, with a dedicated sense of unity and determination, and has managed to cultivate broad support and ownership among the entire community. The committee keeps encouraging the community by providing as much information as possible to the wider membership, and with the docking of the water equipment at the Port of Mombasa on 6^th March, 2013, there is a general feeling that their efforts are on the verge of being realized. The Deputy Head master of the Chipande School, Mr. Wyxtone Lewa notes that the school community is waiting for the finalization of the water project with immense anticipation. It is hoped that the water project will deal with the water problems afflicting the community and ameliorate the problems associated with the continual use of the saline impure water by the students and the teachers.

Figure : The construction of the platform for the water plant is now completed. The water equipment installation is expected to commence at the earliest opportunity (Photo: COAST Project)

Challenges Affecting the Community organization and Proposed Solutions

In the period preceding the shipment, eventual construction and installation of the water treatment equipment at Chipande Primary School, the local committee has had to surmount a number of challenges to keep the project on course.

These include the following:

1. Managing expectations from the entire community – The Chipande community expects this water project to provide a permanent solution to their pervasive water problems. In a way, they see this project as the silver bullet, and a magic wand to solve all their water problems. To ensure increased understanding by the local community of the technical elements of the project, the committee strives to continuously provide reliable information, while encouraging the locals to be cautiously optimistic and be ready to support the project.

2. Managing hygienic problems that may still arise from the project - It is important to note that, even with the eventual installation and operation of the water purification project, problems related to water hygiene are likely to continue. These hygienic challenges may arise from the use and re-use of contaminated water buckets by the community, leading to even more contamination of the purified water.  While the technical specifications of the water equipment expect the purified water to be of high hygienic standards, the continual use of these contaminated buckets by the local community may end up negating the very principle of the water project. It may also lead to a loss of confidence and ownership by the local community, especially if these hygienic problems result in health problems. In anticipation of these, the local committee is planning to undertake aggressive awareness campaigns, and encourage the locals to buy new and cleaner water buckets, which will need to be occasionally cleaned to ensure the expected gains from this project are sustained in the long run.

3. Managing the capacity problems of the purified water – In the discussion with the members of the Chipande community, one can sense a palpable air of expectation that finally, after decades of water stress in the area, this UNIDO supported project is on the verge of offering a long term sustainable water solution to the community.  However, discussions with Mr. Imran Jalalkhan, the National Coordinator working on the water project, it is clear that the expected clean water may not be sufficient for every household in the area. He explains that the 130 liter per hour only translates to close to 1300 litres of water per day, and with the reliance on renewable energy sources (wind and solar) this may  not be enough for the community. A number of storage tanks have been installed within the school compound, but there is need for an investment in more tanks to ensure the water is stored to avoid unnecessary wastages and contamination if not properly stored.

Thinking Ahead: Proposed Sustainability Plans

In the short and long run, the importance of such projects can only be realized if the issues of sustainability are firmly integrated in the implementation process. This is why the community is now already reflecting on some of the ways to enhance the sustainability of the water project. Issues such as maintenance, replacement of equipment parts arising from general wear and tear, provision of security for the water treatment facility and revenue generation require innovative responses from the community leadership.

Figure : Mr. Imran Jalalkhan, the Water Project Coordinator (right)   discussing with the COAST Project Demo Project Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Nganga during a site visit to the Chipande Water Project site. (Photo: COAST Project)

According to Mr. Imran Jalalkhan, the local community leadership is already thinking up of ways and means to enhance the sustainability and widespread awareness and education of the project. Various ideas have been floated by the members and if well executed, these may result in optimal benefits to the community, and long term solutions to the water deficit in the area.

• Alternative sources of energy to complement the renewable energy sources: - Some of the issues that the local community is pursuing to enhance productivity of the water plant include, sourcing for electricity to complement the renewable energy components of the project. The equipment is to run on wind and solar energy, but discussions have been held between the community and the local leaders on how to receive power under the Government of Kenya’s Rural Electrification Plan. This would result in more power to sustain production even at night, and in this regard enhance the capacity of the plant.

• Designing a sound economic plan for the purified water: - If the capacity of the permeate water fails to satisfy all the households in the area, the Chipande Community Committee will propose a roadmap where the water will be availed to the public utilities in the area such as the school free of charge, and source for partnerships to support the bottling and selling of this water in the local community at an affordable rate. In this way, the project may generate some revenue that would be injected back into the project, and support local ownership and growth of this project.

Conclusion

It is important to realize that the ongoing global efforts at enhancing access of potable water for water stressed communities’ needs to be actually felt at the community level. If the communities in the coastal area of the Watamu Demo Site benefit from this water project, then such success stories have to be documented and disseminated widely to encourage other such efforts in the world. The local community in Chipande understands that by benefitting from this project, they have a responsibility to design further strategies that will enhance its sustainability.  UNIDO, the Government of Kenya and the Government of Slovenia may only have injected some resources in the area, but the challenge of ensuring sustainability rests with the locals, and in the days and months to come, the local leadership will be required to give this project, the wings it requires to soar and to continue providing clean water for the community, in the long run. While the local community continues to await the flow of the pure water, the implementation of this project has had to surmount a number of logistical challenges associated with the shipment and eventual installation of this water plant. However, most of these hurdles have since been cleared, and the people of Chipande community now expectantly wait for clean water, the end product this global partnership supported by UNIDO.

Background

The COAST Project is working to showcase some of the global best practices and technologies that can enhance the growth and development of sustainable tourism in the coastal areas in nine countries in Africa (Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles and Tanzania). In order to provide support to the COAST Project countries by working to domesticate some principles of information technology in Africa, the project executed a web-raising training for representatives from the Watamu Demo Site (Kenya) and Kribi Demo Site (Cameroon). This was done under the project’s Knowledge Management and Communication Strategy.

These two COAST Project countries, Kenya and Cameroon, were selected to benefit from this training after a rapid web audit that identified the two as best placed to benefit and demonstrate to the other project countries how web based applications could be used as a best practice in marketing tourism destinations. The ensuing results, experiences and lessons from this training will be documented and shared with all the COAST Project countries, and particular demonstrable results will be converted into a web raising toolkit that can easily be used by the partner country tourist destination areas that seek to benefit from online marketing presence to enhance their branding.

The COAST Project’s Web-raising Capacity Building Training for Kenya and Cameroon

This three day workshop was organized at the Turtle Bay Beach Club from 20^th to 23^rd March, 2013. The participants from Kenya ranged from private sector representatives, civil society organizations and government stakeholders. These stakeholders play a critical role in the work of the COAST Project at the local level. The Kribi Demo Site was represented by Mr. Santiago Ormeno, the UNIDO Technical Officer supporting COAST Project activities at the Demo Site in Cameroon. Mr. Ormeno will execute a number of follow up web-raising training activities at the Kribi Demo Site to enhance the online presence of eco-tourism in Kribi and build capacities of the local tourism sector in online marketing tools.

Figure : Participants to the web-raising training undertaking a field visit to the Dabaso boardwalk, a COAST Project supported activity in Watamu Demo Site (Photo: COAST Project)

What is web-raising and how does it apply to a tourism destination?

Prof. Simon Milne, Professor of Tourism and the Associate Head of School at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI), contends that web-raising is touted as a “best practice in enhancing the work of communities in the tourism industry”. Prof. Milne has led numerous researches in this subject in New Zealand and the wider Pacific Islands. From his work, he demonstrates convincingly how Information Technology (IT) and access to the internet can significantly improve tourists’ experiences by exposing to them hitherto unknown authentic attraction sites in a given locality. In addition, through web-raising, it is possible for local communities and service providers to be more engaged in the tourism industry and therefore stand a chance to benefit from direct revenues that flow into these communities. To help the COAST Project execute this training workshop, Prof. Simon Milne was invited to provide his technical expertise to help the project review the web presence of the two sites and recommend strategies for building their web presence in ensuing months.

How does Web-raising apply to Marketing a Tourist Destination?

The concept of web-raising integrates Information Technology (IT) and access to the web to ensure improved branding and marketing of tourist destinations. The NZTRI view’s web-raising as a process that can enable communities and related stakeholders to use the internet to maximize the potential of tourism to be a tool for sustainable economic development. A key focus is on how to use the internet to enhance the economic linkages between tourism and the surrounding economy while also lessening negative impacts on community quality of life and the broader ecosystem. According to Prof. Milne, web-raising is not an end in itself, but rather a process that evolves over a number of stages and can be customized to meet different cultural, environmental and economic realities.

This concept has been successfully implemented in some parts of the globe, and particularly in New Zealand, Tonga and Eua Islands (Islands in South Pacific) to significantly improve both, the visitor experience as well local business and service provision opportunities for these local communities. Resulting from such web-raising examples, local businesses and local community have combined resources to provide deeper insights into the experiences that await the visitor. In the end, communities that had been previously poorly linked into the domestic and international tourism market, and have been perpetually ‘bypassed’ in terms of tourism spend and visitor engagement opportunities, find real niches to work and support touristic practices that also benefits them. It is also provides a good opportunity to integrate environmental sustainability principles within the tourism industry.

The COAST Project: Results from the Web-Audit for Watamu and Kribi Demo Site

It is important to realize that most tourists’ first point of call for information on any given tourist destination they plan to visit is through the internet. The search engines that are mostly used include Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and AOL. For tourists, a number of traveler rating sites, with interactive feedback mechanisms that allow travelers to post their reviews are rising in popularity. They include TripAdvisor; Lonely Planet and Wiki pages. Hence, during this internet search, a tourist would wish to see a positive branding and more information on attraction sites to visit even before leaving their home countries. In a way, the tourists would wish to experience the real visit, even before setting off for the journey. In realization of this fact, a team of researchers from the NZTRI conducted a web audit of the Watamu and Kribi Demo Sites before the training. The audit comprised of a comprehensive review of all the key on-line resources that a prospective visitor would check for Kribi and Watamu Demo Sites.

So, the question is, what do tourists who want to visit Watamu and Kribi see on the internet, before setting off for their holidays? Below is a summary of the key findings:

Conclusion

From this training, a number of key issues were agreed upon, with an action plan being adopted to support the efforts by the DMSC’s in Watamu to enhance the web presence of the COAST Project Demo Site. For Kribi, an action plan that involves further trainings has been developed to support the local stakeholders become familiar with the opportunities presented by the Internet for promotion of their tourism products, to build the loyalty of regular tourists and to conceive new destination marketing tools. By and large, it is important to note that if fully integrated within the tourism industry, web-raising can contribute to building new tourism brands in areas that are not necessarily known as tourism destinations, and promote a positive perception by potential tourists and investors. It can also enhance the search-ability and marketability of a tourist area that doesn’t fit the conventional definition, as many other destinations in Sub Saharan Africa, that remain off-the-beaten-paths of mainstream tourism.

Websites such as AirBnB (stays at local houses), Trip Advisor (information about tourism sites and hotels), and Google Places (geo-location of small business) serve as a new direct channels for community based tourism and eco-tourism. Web-raising therefore has the potential of ensuring that more tourism income is directly being infused within the local communities, hence accruing more direct benefits to a given society.  Since the subject of green consumerism and responsible tourism is on the rise in recent years, this concept can be effectively used to market destinations that pay particular emphasis on sustainability issues. Therefore, lessons and experiences that will emerge from the COAST Project’s application of the web-raising concept in Kenya and Cameroon will be shared to ensure broader uptake in the next course of project implementation.

Tourism is important in The Gambia as a leading foreign exchange earner and one of the pillars for the eradication of poverty. In this regard, the government's stated policy is to promote tourism and its contribution to economic growth by marketing the country as the ‘Smiling Coast of Africa’, a popular and affordable winter destination attracting tourists in search of sun, sand, sea and rich cultural experiences. The main objective is to increase the contribution of tourism to the economy and to raise the general living standards of all Gambians. To this end, the government is continuing its efforts to broaden the tourism market, improve quality standards, and ensure rational use of the country’s Tourism Development Area by supporting ideals of responsible and sustainable tourism. The Gambia is one of the nine participating countries and is executing its activities at the Kartong Demo Site, through a collaborative venture with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Gambia Tourism Board (GT Board) and the Gambia’s National Environment Agency (NEA).

1. 2. Background Information on the Kartong Demo Site

Kartong is one of the oldest settlements in The Gambia situated about 43km from Banjul (the capital city) and only 10 minutes across a river from the Senegalese Region of Cassamance. The area is growing rapidly and currently has an estimated population of 5,000 people of multi ethnic settlement and different religious practice. Community members engage primarily in farming, fishing, trading and most importantly in tourism related activities. The shape of Kartong village (also known locally as Kartung) is narrow and surrounded on three sides by Cassamance (Senegal) by a famous natural feature known as Hallahin Bolong (river). To cross to the other bank of the Hallahin Bolong (river), there is a crossing taking not more than five minutes of canoe paddling. The Demo Site area is famed for providing eco-lodges; traditional dances; authentic cultural experiences; river excursions; bird watching; a rich variety of local cuisine; picnic areas; and expansive and clean beaches. To interact with the locals, a trip to the sacred crocodile pool popularly known as ‘Folonko’ and the ‘Balanta’ Palm wine tapping center would afford visitors a real treat.

Figure 1: The Hallahin Bolong River, acting as the border between Senegal and The Gambia. It is thriving with fishing, oyster harvesting, tourism and cultural activities (Photo: COAST Project)

Figure 2: Map showing the Kartong Demo Site’s key touristic sites

1. 3. Showcasing the COAST Project Work in The Gambia

The COAST Project has been executing its activities aimed at demonstrating and supporting the adoption of Best Available Practices and Best Available Technologies (BAPs/BATs) approaches for sustainable coastal tourism that reduces the degradation of marine and coastal environments of trans-boundary significance. Previously, the project had activities in three sites in The Gambia (Tumani Tenda, Denton Bridge and Kartong) but a Mid Term Review conducted in 2012 recommended a strategic emphasis on Kartong site, with the other two sites benefiting through knowledge sharing and mainstreaming of sustainable coastal tourism BAPs/BATs and lessons. Kartong is also emerging as a national icon for responsible and sustainable tourism, and is expected to lead the way in generating valuable lessons and results that will spur a national re-awakening to place sustainability criteria at the peak of the tourism development plans in The Gambia.

1. Working with Local Communities to Deliver Sustainable Tourism Practices in Kartong

Through collaboration with UNWTO, GT Board and the NEA, the project is currently implementing a number of activities under the eco-tourism thematic area. The eco-tourism thematic area seeks to provide local communities ample opportunities to engage in, and benefit from the tourism industry. It seeks to also ensure that the nexus between environment and community eventually translates to sustainable tourism practices that are beneficial to the Kartong area.

Some of the activities being undertaken by the COAST Project to enhance this are summarized below:

1. a. Community Awareness on Protection and Management of Marine and Coastal environment

This has been achieved through a series of workshops, trainings and public forums that have been done to ensure the local communities and the tourists in the area contribute effectively to environmental conservation in order to protect the marine and coastal environment. For instance, the project has held trainings of over 20 community members on environmental issues to protect the marine and coastal ecosystems, and a training for 25 staff from tourism and hospitality institutions on how to become biodiversity champions; and the project will organize a ‘train the trainers’ seminar for 6 members of the Kartong Association of Responsible Tourism (KART) and the Village Development Committee  to build capacity within the community so that they can conduct their own training programs on environment. The project also supports a number of beach clean ups and community sensitization workshops at Kartong. During the annual Kartong Cultural Festival, a one day triathlon event is set to be organized in Kartong that will include activities such as athletics, bike riding and regatta style rowing on the Hallahin River. The overriding message during this event will be the need to protect the rich marine and coastal environment in the area.

To support all these activities, the COAST Project is supporting the local Kartong Responsible Tourism Association (KART Assoc.) by equipping and furnishing their local offices with solar energy, a computer, printer and basic office functionalities. The lack of electricity in the area is a key impediment to the running of such a centre, and with the expected purchase and installation of solar panels at the office this year, the KART Association will be empowered to effectively deliver on the eco-tourism plans for the Kartong area. A follow up training program to equip the key staff with business and administration skills required to run the KART office and staff at the community owned Tesito Camp has also been planned within this year. This training will cover administration including record keeping, customer service, IT, food hygiene and business management.

1. b. Managing Solid Wastes through Recycling and Manure for Income Generation

The COAST Project is working with the local partners in Kartong to support efforts of sustainable management of the solid wastes in the area. In this regard, the project purchased 20 waste bins for project tourist attractions with 10 bins being branded green for degradable waste materials and another ten in red color for non-degradable waste. A series of community awareness sessions will be conducted to teach the local people on how to use these bins to ensure successful application. These bins have since been distributed to the area, and are located at key tourist attraction sites to help manage the pervasive problem of waste management in the area. It is deplorable for tourists to visit a site and find a mountain of plastic, which are also known to cause fatal injuries and even deaths to marine life. Through this initiative, the COAST Project hopes to encourage the local partners in Kartong to adopt these bins and to conduct periodic clean ups activities to help rid the area of the wastes. In addition to the bins, the project plans to conduct training for 25 locals on waste recycling into organic fertilizer and crafts (bracelets, footwear, bangles etc), which can be sold to tourists visiting the area.

Figure 3: The NEA and GT Board officials including the COAST Project DPC handing over the waste bins to the local community in Kartong

1. c. Supporting Eco-tourism for Employment Creation and Empowerment of Local Communities in Kartong

The issue of economic empowerment of the local communities is at the heart of the eco-tourism project being executed by the COAST Project in Kartong. Indeed, if the local communities get to benefit from the resources emanating from the tourism industry, they enhance local community ownership and improve the standards of living. In return, this may lead to immense environment benefits, since the local people now view their local surroundings as a valuable resource that is having direct impacts on their livelihoods. This is the importance of eco-tourism, as a key platform for supporting sustainable and responsible tourism practices. The COAST Project has identified a number of valuable opportunities and projects that will directly inject some resources into the local households.

They include:

• Development of the Tesito Camp, a local community owned facility, into a camping site with solar energy and facilities like toilets, showers and proper waste disposal arrangement. Additional eco-tourism activities will involve the introduction of Gambian cookery classes with the village women leading these sessions for visitors;
• The organization of a familiarization trip for local and international tour operators to Kartong in order to expand the market to more operators for the South Gambia cross-village excursion that is a combination of bush and river adventure covering the villages of Sifoe and Berending before ending in Kartong;
• Enhancement of the local handicraft sector by introducing new craft products such as pottery as well as building workshops and points of sale for Kartong artists;
• Rehabilitation and fencing of the Folonko crocodile pool to keep intruding animals away and introduce an entrance fee to the sacred site to raise some revenue to support the local community and their conservation efforts;
• Purchase of 10 bicycles to introduce more environmentally friendly activities such as village cycling with the view to hire bikes out to visitors at the following locations: Sandele, Hallahin Camp and the KART Tourists Information Office. A training on tour guiding for 10 youths from Kartong will be undertaken for the youths who will be conducting the  bicycle tour as well as the village walking tour;

Figure 4: The COAST Project Environment Focal Point Mr. Momodou Suwareh handing over the 10 bicycles to the KART Association (Photo: COAST Project)

1. 6. Conclusion

Resulting from our ongoing work in the Kartong Demo Site in The Gambia, it is clear that the COAST Project is on the right track to deliver on its core objective of supporting and enhancing the conservation of globally significant coastal and marine ecosystems and associated biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa, through the reduction of the negative environmental impacts which they receive as a result of coastal tourism. The eco-tourism activities at the Demo Site are expected to help enhance the local economic impact of tourism and to motivate local people to protect the environment and biodiversity of the area, and turn Kartong into a tourist destination site in The Gambia that places a maxim on sustainable and responsible tourism practices. It is the intention that valuable lessons and experiences can be learned from the activities in Kartong, which will be useful to share with professionals and institutions dealing with sustainable coastal tourism in Africa and beyond. When all these activities will have been executed at the Kartong Demo Site, the COAST Project will generate useful results, experiences and good lessons for replication in other similar coastal destinations in the region. It is also our hope that these activities will continue beyond the COAST Project life span to enhance the place of Kartong Demo Site as a sustainable coastal tourist destination in The Gambia.

From April 23 to 25, 2013, UNWTO organized a training seminar in The Gambia on Tourism and Biodiversity.  The objective of the seminar was to give guidance to employees in the tourism sector to act as champions for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in their enterprise and community. The training took place within the framework of the COAST (Collaborative Actions for Sustainable Tourism) project in Africa, a GEF funded project implemented by UNEP as implementing agency, UNIDO as executing agency and UNWTO as associate agency, including activities in nine countries in Africa (Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, and Tanzania).

The seminar was attended by 25 employees from selected hotels and small and community based tourism enterprises. A large part of the participants came from the village of Kartong at the border with Senegal, which is the demonstration site of the COAST project in The Gambia. UNWTO is collaborating with the Gambia Tourism Board and tourism stakeholders in Kartong to implement a COAST eco-tourism project in the village that aims to build sustainable livelihoods and protect the environment and biodiversity through eco-tourism development. The training seminar in The Gambia was especially meant to strengthen the link between the sustainable livelihood component and the biodiversity conservation component of this COAST project.

The seminar was organized in a participatory and interactive manner and included technical presentations, case study examples and group exercises on the following topics: sustainable tourism, biodiversity, marine and coastal biodiversity, environmental protection in tourism, environmental management in tourism, and being a champion. The participants learned to analyze the main threats to biodiversity and the environment in their destination, and discussed ideas and examples on how to act as champions for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. On the third day of the seminar, the participants carried out a field exercise in the Sandele eco-lodge in Kartong, learning from the many good examples that the lodge provides on environmental sustainability.

Based on the examples provided and lessons learned, at the end of the seminar the participants prepared an action plan to act as champions for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in their enterprise and community, which in particular addressed the waste management problem in Kartong.  All participants indicated that the seminar had been very relevant for their professional activities and that it had provided them with good ideas to put into practice. The participants from Kartong already agreed to carry out the first awareness raising and clean-up activities during the weekend after the seminar, as an initial step towards implementing their action plan. Based on the positive outcome of the seminar, UNWTO will explore with UNIDO and UNEP/GEF if the seminar can be replicated in other participating countries in the COAST project in Africa.

This article first appeared on the UNWTO Newsletter accessible here

In the Ibera Marshes in Argentina, conservation-based tourism activities have revived the economy of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, near the Ramsar Site “Lagunas y Esteros del Iberá”, by creating new jobs, and allowing local inhabitants stay employed in the town rather than migrate to cities to look for work. Around 90% of the population now works in the tourism sector. In order to favour local employment, the site managers provide local rangers and guides with training on working as tourist guides and local communities receive support to establish municipal nature trails.

Lake Nakuru in Kenya every year receives around 149,500 international and 95,500 domestic visitors, who are charged an entrance fee of US$ 80 and US$ 11 respectively. The income generated from the entrance fees and concession fees from the lodges, contribute to paying the costs of the park management. Overall, around 70% of Kenya’s international tourism is targeted to the country’s wildlife, and therefore biodiversity conservation is not only an environmental objective, but it is also crucial for the country’s economy. Awareness about the importance of nature is promoted each year  through a large-scale environmental education programme, involving about 100,000 school students, and by using inexpensive wildlife viewing tours, that the National Park runs for residents.

Case example sources: Ramsar and UNWTO (2012)

Extracted from the report: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Water and Wetlands, section 5.4 highlighting sustainable tourism.

The report presents insights on critical water-related ecosystem services and the wider ecosystem services from wetlands, in order to encourage additional policy momentum, business commitment, and investment in the conservation, restoration, and wise use of wetlands.

Source / Fuente: teebweb.org

Author / Autor: teebweb.org

Date / Fecha: 10/05/13

The health benefits of spending time in nature are well-documented, as are the stress-relieving benefits of taking a vacation. Travelers looking to really get away from it all, and help conserve some of the world's most pristine natural habitats, should consider de-stressing at a relaxing and secluded eco-resort.

Good for your stress levels and for the environment, these destinations are both tranquil and invigorating, often featuring spa services and complimentary yoga classes alongside rainforest tours and water sports. And it's a vacation you can feel good about: From a private island and reserve off the coast of Zanzibar equipped with the latest eco-technology to a sustainable lodge celebrating Pueblo culture in Taos, New Mexico, all are committed to preserving the surrounding land, benefiting native communities and employing local staff.

Click through the photos for 10 of the most tranquil (and conservation-minded) eco-tourism destinations around the globe, and tell us: Would you go on an eco-vacation? Share your thoughts in the comments or tweet @HuffPostTravel.

To see the 10 Photos check here