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New on-the-ground projects in the WIO to promote marine ecosystem management

GEF-UNDP/UNEP Nairobi Convention SAPPHIRE Project

By IW:LEARN

June 7^th, 2020

As countries begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to remember that the health of the oceans is intimately tied to human health. Strong, science-based ocean governance policies can help states safeguard the well-being of their communities post-pandemic and protect against future health scares, like waterborne infectious diseases, contaminated seafood, chemical pollutants, or harmful algal blooms.

But for such ocean governance to be effective, it must be coordinated and implemented at all levels, from the shores of local fishing communities to the conference rooms of international organizations. That’s why the Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystems Strategic Action Programme Policy Harmonisation and Institutional Reforms (SAPPHIRE)-a Global Environment Facility-funded project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and executed by the United Nations Environment Programme - Nairobi Convention—issued a call for proposals to Nairobi Convention* states to submit proposals for demonstration projects under two of the SAPPHIRE project components, Component 1: Policy Harmonization and Management Reforms; and Component 2: Stress Reduction through Community Engagement and Empowerment in Sustainable Resources Management. Such demonstration projects will therefore address issues or make improvements at the local, national, and even regional level.

A Regional Review Committee, composed of country experts, has established criteria for review and is providing comments on the proposals, which are currently at different stages of technical revision and development.

Read below to learn more about the components and demonstration project proposals!

*Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and France (non-project beneficiary).

Component 1: Policy Harmonization and Institutional Reforms

The call for proposals under this component is intended to support projects in countries to initiate dialogue and consultations on reviewing and realigning existing policies, legislations, strategies and programmes that support implementation of the Strategic Action Programme to improve management of the Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystem (LME). Demonstration projects could review national legislation that regulate the use of ecosystem goods and services, such as those on fisheries. Indeed, one proposal from Comoros aims to establish a political, legal, and institutional framework for fisheries. Or they could focus on organizing and balancing the many different sectors and users of ocean space through Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), like a proposal from Kenya which seeks to secure legal clarity, backing, authority and mandate on MSP. South Africa’s proposal also underscored the importance of MSP, as their project would aim to support the eventual implementation of the South African MSP Bill to maximize cooperation and realize environmental and economic goals.

Other countries also focused on national coordination in ocean governance in their proposals.

Madagascar, for its part, aims to develop an updated, more specific legal framework for the management of marine ecosystems through organizing high-level policy dialogues to determine the country’s priorities when it comes to ocean governance. This proposal echoes a similar one from Mozambique, which seeks to strengthen coordination among national-level actors with stakes in ocean management. Tanzania also wanted to coordinate stakeholders to review and update Tanzania’s National Integrated Coastal Environmental Management Strategy and the State of the Coast Report to incorporate new initiatives like MSP.

Boats along the Kilifi Coast in Kenya. Photo credit: Riccardo Zennaro, 2020

Component 2: Stress Reduction through Community Engagement and Empowerment in Sustainable Resources Management

Though coastal communities are among the primary users and beneficiaries of ocean resources, they are often left out of ocean management processes. Component 2 demonstration projects are designed to promote community engagement in LME management by integrating an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach into the management of artisanal and subsistence fisheries.

In some countries, such demonstration projects will expand on initiatives already underway. For example, another element of the aforementioned proposal submitted by Comoros will create three additional Local Management Plans (LMPs)—i.e. plans that manage fishing activities to mitigate the loss of fish stocks that would cover 26 villages. Madagascar, meanwhile, plans to initiate a Management Transfer in the communes of Anakao and South Manombo, under which the management of natural resources, such as mangroves and fishing, is shifted to a trained and empowered local community. Such local empowerment can help mitigate the uncontrolled exploitation of marine and coastal resources and poverty in these areas. Mozambique, for its part, has chosen to focus on increasing employment for local women by identifying a site for increased mussel cultivation in Inhaca Island. The women will then be trained on how to maintain, cultivate, and harvest the mussels. In addition, Tanzania is seeking to enhance Integrated Coastal Zone Management to protect key critical habitats in the Pemba Channel Conservation Area of Zanzibar, habitats which support artisanal fisheries and seaweed farming on the island.

Locals in the waters off Zanzibar. Photo credit: Riccardo Zennaro, 2020

“The SAPPHIRE project will make sure that all these proposals do not just stop at the community or even national level”- Sinikinesh Beyene Jimma, SAPPHIRE project manager

Rather, the project will help mainstream and replicate these sustainable ecosystem-based management approaches into wider municipal, provincial, and national action plans to improve ocean governance. “This will ensure that the projects have a long shelf life, where their best practices can be applied across the entire region.”

New on-the-ground projects in the WIO to promote marine ecosystem management

For more information on the SAPPHIRE project please contact the Project Manager, Sinikinesh Beyene Jimma (sinikinesh.jimma@un.org) and visit the project website as well as the project page on iwlearn.net.