Cost-Benefit Assessment of Marine and Coastal Resources in the Western Indian Ocean (Mozambique and South Africa - Draft)

The purpose and overall objective of this project is to calculate the total economic value of the marine and coastal resources in both Mozambique and South Africa and to assess the impacts of implementing a sustainable use policy for the region. These individual country reports on the value of the coastal and marine resources will be collated with the various other country assessments of the same nature to create a single ASCLME regional report.

The report also focuses on the contribution of coastal and marine resources to poverty alleviation as well as different policy options for the sustainable use of these resources. The valuation assessment seeks to promote sustainable development in the coastal areas of the ASCLME by providing stakeholders with powerful economic analysis for the decision making based on the economic value of the marine and coastal resources of the ASCLME region.

Terms of reference for the brief desktop study were as follows:

1. Assess the total economic value of marine and coastal resources and their contribution to the national economy of South Africa and Mozambique. The resources include all fisheries, coastal tourism, coastal agriculture and forestry, mariculture and/or aquaculture, energy, ports and coastal transport, and coastal mining.
2.  Assess the distribution of economic benefits among various stakeholders and the need for cooperative governance to ensure the benefits accrued are optimised for all stakeholders.
3. Assess the contribution of marine and coastal resources towards poverty alleviation.
4. Provide local resource managers with policy analyses and indicators about the economic impact of different governance options for sustainable use of resources.
5. Increase capacity in government and other stakeholders in the ASCLME region to use environmental economics effectively in decision making and management.