Biophysical environment

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Madagascar has expressed its concerns about the precious richness of the marine and coastal area by ratifying the ʺNairobi Conventionʺ in 2001. Madagascar has important marine and coastal biodiversity.  It has important concentrations of threatened coastal and marine birds. The coast of Madagascar plays an important role in the life cycle of several migratory birds, and is the end destination for many migratory shorebirds. Many bird species are endemic and resident to the coastal area of Madagascar.

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Tanzania is located on the East coast of Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, and lies between Kenya to the north and Mozambique to the south. Its total area is 945,087 km2 and this includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba and Zanzibar. Water covers 59,050 km2 of this area and the coastline along the Indian Ocean is 1,424 km. The population of the country is 40 million with a growth rate of 2.6%. The economy is largely dependent on agriculture, which accounts for about 48% of the GDP.

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Dugongs occur in shallow tropical and subtropical coastal and island waters of the Indo-Pacific.

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Madagascar est la 4ème plus grande île du monde, plus précisément. En effet, outre sa superficie qui couvre 590.750 km², elle se prolonge dans l’océan par un plateau continental pouvant aller jusqu’à p^lus de 100 km couvrant ainsi une superficie supplémentaire de 117.000 km². Madagascar est une république dotée de 6 provinces, 28 régions et de près de 1300 communes.

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Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa, measuring 3,330 km and claims an EEZ of some 830,389 km² (Per Erik Bergh. 2011). Its fishery resources are significant, with an estimated sustainable potential in the order of 200,000 MT per year for pelagic fish stocks, based on several fish surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s (FAO Fishery Country Profile. 2005).

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The Toolkit aims to act as a first point of call in the search for information on issues that MPA managers and practitioners face in day-to-day operations. This first Edition of the Toolkit contains 78 theme sheets, most of which include a case study to help illustrate each topic. The Toolkit is arranged in two parts: 1) The Management Process and 2) Conservation and Sustainable Use.

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This Regional Synthesis Report on the status of pollution in the WIO region synthesises information presented in the National Status of Pollution Reports which form the basis for the TDA of the WIO region. The TDA is an important part of the overall strategic planning process, providing a basis for formulation of the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and the harmonised National Action Plans (NAPs) on environmental protection of WIO region. The focus of this study is on land-based sources of marine pollution, i.e.

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The coastal and marine habitats of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region support the livelihoods of a rapidly growing population, currently estimated at over 60 million. The region is still one of the least ecologically disturbed in the world, hosting over 2,200 species of fish, including rare and endangered species, such as the dugong, coelacanths, marine turtles, sharks, birds and over 350 species of corals and a diverse assemblage of coastal forests, mangrove forests and sea grass beds.

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The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine, and is the only extant species in the Family Dugongidae. It is listed as vulnerable to extinction at a global scale by The World Conservation Union (IUCN).