Strategic Framework for Coastal & Marine Water Quality Management

The Nairobi Convention is an important regional platform for addressing coastal and marine ecosystems challenges in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) through catalytic interventions, dialogue, and partnerships. The Contracting Parties to the Nairobi Convention include Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania and the island states of Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion (France) and Seychelles. The governments of these countries have agreed, through a highly consultative process, on a suite of national and regional collective actions that are required to address significant stresses on the coastal and marine environment of the region, including: 

• “Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the protection of the Western Indian Ocean from land-based sources and activities” (WIOSAP) – funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• “The Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystems Strategic Action Programme Policy Harmonisation and Institutional Reforms” (WIO LME SAPPHIRE) – funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Pro- gramme (UNDP)
• “Enforcing Environmental Treaties in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries” (ACP-MEA Phase III) funded by the European Union.

In terms of coastal and marine water quality management (C&MWQM), it is expected that through improved capacity and the implementation of appropriate strategic frameworks ecosystem integrity can be improved leading to lo- cal socio-economic and environmental benefits, in addition to global environmental benefits. The development of a Regional Strategic Framework for C&MWQM would, there- fore, provides a basis for adopting and integrating this into national coastal and marine water quality frameworks, acknowledging that countries are at different stages of development. Two phases are envisaged, namely:

• Phase 1 – Development of a Strategic Framework for C&MWQM
• Phase 2 – Implementation of the Strategic Framework for C&MWQM at the national and sub-national levels. 

This development of a Strategic Framework for C&MWQM in the WIO region forms part of Phase I pertaining to the status of coastal and marine water quality (or marine pollution) in the region, together with: 

• A Situation Assessment on Marine Pollution and Marine Water Quality Management in the WIO region (UNEP et al., 2022a); and 
• Revised Guidelines for Setting Water and Sediment Quality Targets for Coastal and Marine areas in the WIO region (UNEP et al., 2022b).