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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.

The COAST Project Newsletter is an easy to read 32 page Newsletter that highlights some developments in the subject of sustainable coastal tourism in the global discourse and progress in COAST Project implementation.

The November 2013 Edition of this Newsletter places special focus on our activities in the Reef adn marine Recreation Management (RMRM) Thematic Area and contains the following stories and articles:

• A Foreword by the UNIDO Regional Technical Coordinator Dr. Hugh Gibbon;

• A Cover Story on Integrating Reef and Marine Recreation Management (RMRM) principles in East Africa: Case Studies from Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania;
• An analysis article Showcasing the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Label (SSTL);
  
• A Partnerships for Water Provision Case Study highlighting UNIDO’s Support to the Chipande Community in Watamu Demo Site area in Kenya;
• A Special Feature on how some of the COAST Project countries marked the World Environment Day at the Demonstration Sites;
  
• Some News from the COAST Demo Sites in all the nine Project Countries;
• A picture gallery of the COAST Demo Site activities;
• A Question & Answer Section with Dr. Francois Odendaal CEO EcoAfrica;
  
• An Opinion Article on Experiences and Lessons from the Benguela Current Commission (BCC).

To read the stories in the attached PDF file or download the English PDF Newsletter Edition here.

For our Francophone readers, the French PDF Newsletter Edition will be made available in due course.

Please, share with us your feedback on any of these stories. If you want us to follow up on any of these stories, or would wish more information on these articles, please write to the COAST Project's Knowledge Management and Communications Officer on the contacts below.

THE EDITORIAL TEAM - UNIDO COAST PROJECT

Office Number: +254 20 7625286

Cell. Number: +254 722 508010

E-mail: G.Omedo@unido.org

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.

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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)