Welcome, Nairobi Convention Member States, partners, and friends, to this installment of the Weekly News Round-up! Please keep reading to find out what’s new in efforts to protect, conserve and develop the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
We look forward to continuing our work with you to create a prosperous WIO region with healthy rivers, coasts, and oceans.
Upcoming Events:
The Nairobi Convention, in executing the WIOSAP project, is organizing a workshop for managers and policy-makers on Mainstreaming of Environmental Flows into Integrated Water Resources Management to be held on 6 – 8 November 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Nairobi Convention and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) are holding a training on Marine Spatial Planning for Somalia government representatives from 11-13 November in Seychelles. The workshop will introduce participants to the advantages of spatial planning; share WIO experiences on MSP; and discuss the need for and plans for river basin management in the Juba-Shebelle region.
The SAPPHIRE project of the Nairobi Convention will be hosting the Leadership Renewal Workshop for Senior Officials and Policy Makers (Women) in Marine Policy and Ocean Governance in the WIO Region in Mombasa, Kenya from 4-6 December. The leadership renewal workshop seeks to promote the empowerment, active participation, and networking among officials, women marine scientists and experts in charge of policy formulation, decision-making and implementation of policies and programmes on coastal and marine ecosystem management and ocean governance.
Announcement
Somalia Appoints New Focal Point to Nairobi Convention
The Nairobi Convention is excited to announce that Somalia has appointed a new Focal Point, Kenadid Mumin Cali. Mr. Cali is the Deputy Director General of the Department of Environment and Climate Change at the Office of the Prime Minister of Somalia……read more
News:
Measurement and Implications of Marine Food Security in the Western Indian Ocean: An Impending Crisis?
Ten percent of the world’s population depends on the ocean for a readily accessible source of protein and employment. Coastal ecosystems and the communities that rely upon them are facing extreme challenges of increases in ocean pollution, loss of habitat, ocean warming, and changes in ocean productivity. This paper provides an alternative view and analysis of food security at both a national and community level taking into account these marginalised communities. The results propose a refined definition of marine food security and new quantitative methods to measuring direct and indirect reliance on fish within developing countries. Application of this concept and methods reveals that aggregated national statistics mask the extreme levels of dependence on fish for food security in coastal communities within Kenya and Madagascar. The Comoros, Mauritius, Mozambique, and Somalia appear to be the most vulnerable to increasing sea surface temperature, population, and fluctuation in total catch and will be severely affected by a changing Western Indian Ocean from a national, community, and individual perspective.…….read more
Seychelles, EU Agree on New Fishing Deal Worth 58 Million Euros
The Fisheries Protocol together with the Economic Partnership Agreement Seychelles has with the European Union (EU) has generated throughout the year important economic benefits for the island nation. These two complementary agreements have made Seychelles the second exporter of canned tuna to the EU market. Fisheries is the second top contributor to the Seychelles…….read more
Ending Overfishing is an Opportunity to Combat Climate Crisis
Ending overfishing would not only secure vital fish populations for the future, but constitutes a significant climate emergency action, according to the working paper, Ending Overfishing Can Mitigate Impacts of Climate Change, by Dr Rashid Sumaila and Dr Travis Tai of the University of British Columbia. The paper reports that overfishing and climate change are not mutually exclusive problems to be addressed separately, as both are severely impacting ocean health and putting marine ecosystems and the goods and services they provide to communities at risk. Ending overfishing would give the ocean respite from human pressure, making it more resilient to the effects of the climate crisis, while helping to restore critically valuable marine ecosystems…….read more
3rd Symposium on Climate Change Adaption in Africa 2030 – Strengthening the Capacity of African Countries to handle the Challenges of a Changing Environment
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30th October 2019
Deadline for registration for the conference on 23 – 24 January 2020 : 30th November 2019…..read more
Besides Hot Water, Coral Bleaching is also about Location, Location, Location
As conservationists grapple with unprecedented levels of coral reef bleaching in the world’s warming oceans, scientists in the Indian and Pacific Oceans used the most recent El Nino of 2016 (the warmest year on record) to evaluate the role of excess heat as the leading driver of coral bleaching. The findings were, in a word, complicated, according to marine researchers from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups. Specifically, the WCS-led study revealed a more complex view than current standard predictions of coral bleaching events caused primarily by heat stress; rather, the scientists found that bleaching is driven by a variety of stressors, and each region responds differently. The authors note that any good predictions of the future will need to consider these complexities, specifically because they are important for effective policies, management, and conservation plans………read more
Forecasting Global Coral Bleaching
Mass bleaching events’, driven by exposure to extreme temperature stress caused by ocean warming, have resulted in alarming degradation of coral reefs. This accelerating ecological crisis requires tools to predict imminent bleaching events spatially and temporally so that we can prioritize management of vulnerable reef systems. Existing models — which work well for some locations but not others across the vast mosaic of reef systems that spans over 280,000 km2 worldwide — do not have these capabilities. This research published by the Journal, Nature Climate Change have coordinated an impressive large-scale coral survey in response to record temperatures triggered by the 2014–2016 El Niño event. This survey has unveiled a multivariate approach that captures nuances in local environmental conditions to predict mass coral bleaching with greater accuracy at a global scale………read more
Read the full-length paper here
Analysis of Socio-Ecological Impacts of Built Environment at Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Coastline, Tanzania
This paper analyzed and mapped the impact of built environment (BE) on socio-ecological services along Dar es Salaam metropolitan coastline. In the period of 1995-2016, burgeoning population exacerbated high rate of construction processes and activities. Such anthropic initiatives affect the benefits and values delivered by landscape wetlands, estuaries, beach areas, open space and greenery patches in Dar es Salaam coastline. Panel regression revealed the inverse relationship between BE and vegetation cover; the BE expressed significant negative impact on vegetation cover as compared to agriculture. Therefore, strengthened efforts on people-nature connection, through integrating nature values and conservation initiatives in construction projects could provoke more strategic management of BE.……read more
Monitoring Marine Litter Along Coastlines
Monitoring plastic pollution quantities along the world’s coastlines is a difficult and imprecise science. Knowledge is most often based on non-representative data of low quality, making it difficult to plan effective cleanup efforts and follow trends in marine littering over time. Stranded Litter Quantification Protocol (SLQP) is a scientifically derived process to quantify stranded litter along coastlines. It provides valuable insights on marine debris quantities and coastal distribution for monitoring purposes……..read more
81% of Tuna Catch Comes from Stocks at Healthy Levels, 15% Require Stronger Management
Of the total commercial tuna catch worldwide, 81% came from stocks at “healthy” levels of abundance, according to the October 2019 International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Status of the Stocks report. In addition, 15% of the total tuna catch was from overfished stocks, and 4% was from stocks at an intermediate level of abundance.
- The Atlantic Ocean bigeye and Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stocks are overfished and overfishing is taking place………read more
Read the full report: ISSF 2019-12: Status of the World Fisheries for Tuna. October 2019
Other Related News
Vacancies
Senior Expert on the Development of a Private Sector Engagement Strategy with the Nairobi Convention SAPPHIRE project
Advert link: Click Here
Application Deadline: 06 November 2019
Africa Oceans Strategy Director (vacancy No. 48082) with the Nature Conservancy
Please find advert link: Click Here
Application Deadline is 31 October 2019.
Marine Coordinator with Birdlife International
Please find the advert link here: Click Here
Application deadline: 29 October 2019
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