Planning and management
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.
The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004 affected part of Somalia, with most of the damage experienced in the north-east along a 650 km coastline stretching from Xafuun in the Bari region, to Garacad in the Mudug region. About 44,000 people are believed to have been affected by the tsunami.
The issue of shoreline changes has increasingly become a major social, economic and environmental concern to a large number of countries in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) region, where it poses a serious problem to the environment and human settlements.
The countries of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region share a common but varying dependence on the coastal resources including fisheries resources. Currently the coastal zone of the mainland states is home to over 30 million people and about 7.7 million more live on the Islands of Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros and Réunion (Linden and Lundin, 1997). Coastal resources in the Eastern African region have supported the livelihoods of generations of coastal dwellers and have contributed to the economic development of most countries in the region.
In this report a review of national policies and legislation addressing issues of the alteration and destruction of critical coastal and marine habitats, and the institutional arrangements towards alleviating the same is presented. The land-based social and economic activities impacting on the habitats and the extent to which the latter are affected is assessed. Emphasis has been placed on the link between the impacts and tourism or tourism catalysed activities.
The South Indian Ocean Blue Book was presented on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 for the seashells that took place in Saint-Pierre of La Réunion.
The fifth meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Nairobi Convention (COP5) was held in Johannesburg from 5 to 8 November 2007. The meeting was convened by the secretariat of the Nairobi Convention at the kind invitation of the Government of South Africa
The meeting was organized into several parts:
In 1984, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Somalia approached the Executive Director of UNEP with a request for assistance in assessing the coastal and marine environmental problems of the country in drawing up a national action plan for the protection, management and development of its marine and coastal environment.
WIO Regional Private Sector Engagement Strategy Stakeholders Consultation Webinar Report
30 October 2020
Though oil spills have decreased over the decades, the threat of a major oil spill still poses significant threats to the ecosystems and coastlines of the WIO.