Integrated Management of the Marine and Coastal Resources of the Northern Mozambique Channel: White Paper for the Science-Policy Workshop of the 9th Conference of Parties to the Nairobi Convention, 9-11 July 2018

The Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC) area is under the jurisdiction of Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, France, Seychelles and the Comoros, covering an area of approximately 700,000 km2. It is among the world's richest regions for biodiversity. It serves as a biological reservoir for the entire Eastern African coast, in particular for coral reefs and associated ecosystems, and is an important breeding and foraging areas for flagship marine and migratory species. The human coastal population of the NMC is currently 10 million (expected to grow to 22-25 million in 2050) and is largely dependent on healthy and productive ecosystems through fishing, coastal agriculture, and tourism. Prior documents submitted in the Nairobi Convention COPs have detailed the importance of the region in terms of its biodiversity, value of its ecosystems, population needs, and future development prospects, including of natural gas, which have precipitated past Decisions acknowledging the importance of trans-boundary approaches to maintain the health and vitality of the region for its people to prosper (Decisions from Conferences of Parties of the Nairobi Convention have facilitated the development of activities and consultations including the formulation of this project, including Decision CP7/1 (work programme) and Decision CP8/6 (Support to Implementation of Projects).