Biophysical environment
The Nairobi Convention Secretariat through the Project on the ‘Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the protection of the Western Indian Ocean from landbased sources and activities’ (WIOSAP) in partnership with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) held the 2018 Science to Policy Forum for the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region in Durban S. Africa from the 9th to the 11th of July 2018.
Seamounts are active or extinct volcanoes located on mid-oceanic rifts or intra-plate hot spots. Because of their magmatic origin, seamounts contain mineral resources. A crust of ferromanganese oxide enriched with cobalt, copper, manganese and sulphur has accumulated around the oldest reliefs. These reserves could exceed the quantities currently present on the continents, but their extraction cost remains prohibitive to be profitable.
Article 14.1 of Nairobi Convention states that “As part of their environmental management policies, the Contracting Parties shall, in co-operation with competent regional and international organizations if necessary, develop technical and other guidelines to assist in the planning of their major development projects in such a way as to prevent or minimize harmful impacts on the Convention area”
Following more than two decades of civil war, Somalia has made important progress in recent years with the establishment of permanent political, economic and security institutions. This points towards a future with stronger prospects for peace and for economic and social development. Agriculture remains key to the livelihood of half of Somalia’s population that still lives in rural areas. It is also key to the country’s food security and economic growth prospects.
This study assesses the impacts of climate change on water resources over Mbarali River sub-catchment using high resolution climate simulations from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment Regional Climate Models (CORDEX_RCMs).
SDG 14 offers a great opportunity to advance ocean sustainability in the WIO to address current and emerging threats.It is underpinned by targets addressing conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources, including coastal zones, and targets referring to capacity building and ocean governance.
The economic and socio-political interactions between countries can have major impacts on transboundary conservation decisions and outcomes. Here, we examined for 14 Western Indian Ocean (WIO) continental and island nations the extent of their marine coral reef species, fisheries and marine protected areas (MPAs), in the context of their geopolitical and socio-economic connections. We also examined the role of external countries and organisations in collaboration within the region.
Aim To describe, model and assess the relative importance of environmental and climatic factors likely influencing the regional distribution of coral cover and assemblages with contrasting life histories and susceptibilities to bleaching. Location We compiled the first comprehensive empirical dataset for coral communities in the south‐eastern Indian Ocean (SEIO), incorporating information from 392 sites along the western coast of Australia and offshore atolls/islands across ~19° of latitude.
Catchments to coast: protecting forests to give marine biodiversity a future by Joseph Maina during the 2nd Project Steering Committee for the WIOSAP Project, Nairobi Convention, 27 August 2018, Mombasa, Kenya
Broad-scale overharvesting of fish is one of the major drivers of marine biodiversity loss and poverty, particularly in countries with high dependence on coral reefs. Given the heterogeneity of fishing effort and management success, and the scarcity of management resources, it is necessary to identify broad-scale locations for promoting successful fisheries management and conservation.
