Main Activities and Outputs
Project organization
Project Objective 1: Reduce stress to the ecosystem by improving water and sediment
Implementing agency:
quality
q
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Work Package
Expected project outputs
Assessing water & sediment
Common methods for assessing water & sediment developed
Executing agencies:
quality
Gaps in knowledge of priority pollutants & their sources filled
Carrying capacity of major ecotones identified
WIO-LaB
WIO
q
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
Major hotspots of pollution identified
q
Nairobi Convention Secretariat
Regional environmental quality standards for water and sediment
quality established
Long-term monitoring protocols developed
Project Financing:
Addressing L
Land-based A
Activities
Managing municipal waste water
Demonstration projects on MWW management implemented
Global Environment Facility - US$4,511,140
(MWW)
Guidelines for MWW management developed
in tthe W
Western IIndian O
Ocean
Government of Norway - US$3,395,650
Managing physical alteration and
Demonstration projects on PADH management implemented
United Nations Environment Programme - US$375,000 (cash and in-kind)
destruction of habitats (PADH)
Guidelines for PADH management developed
Participating countries - US$3,131,675 (cash and in-kind)
Project Objective 2: Strengthen regional legal basis for preventing land based (LB) sources
Key regional and international partners:
of pollution
q
UNEP/GEF (www.unep.org/GEF)
Work Package
Expected project outputs
q
UNEP/GPA (www.gpa.unep.org)
Legal framework
National legislation/regulatory frameworks reviewed
q
Government of Norway
Status of ratification of international conventions reviewed
q
Nairobi Convention Secretariat (www.unep.org/easternafrica)
Protocol on LB sources developed & adopted
q
New Partnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD) (www.nepad.org)
Environmental Impact
Guidelines for regional EIA's developed
q
Western Indian Ocean Marine Sciences Association (WIOMSA)
Assessment (EIA)
(www.wiomsa.org)
National Programme's of
NPA's for land based activities developed by countries
q
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (www.wwf.org)
Action (NPA)
q
World Conservation Union (IUCN) (www.iucn.org)
Integrated Coastal Area and River ICARM principles promoted and enhanced
Basin Management (ICARM)
Demonstration project on ICARM implemented
Project Objective 3: Develop regional capacity for sustainable, less polluting development
Work Package
Expected project outputs
Regional coordination
Strengthened Nairobi Convention Secretariat and EAF/RCU
A regional International waters coordinating mechanism established
An East African node of the GPA Clearinghouse Mechanism
created
Training & education
Training needs for LB sources & activities addressed
For contact and further information:
Educational programs on LB sources & activities developed and
implemented
WIO-LaB Project Management Unit
Stakeholder participation
Private and public sector partnerships established
Stakeholder participation in LBS management strengthened
c/o Nairobi Convention Secretariat
Small grants programme designed and implemented
Room 130, Block A, U.N. Avenue
Transboundry Diagnostic Analysis An updated, scientifically relevant and geographically focused TDA
P.O. Box 30552, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya
& Strategic Action Plan
and SAP developed
Tel: + 254 20 623258/1250/3130
Fax: +254 20 62 3203/4618/4300
Email: wiolab@unep.org
Website: www.wiolab.org

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Project Beneficiaries
Objectives
Context
The importance of the marine and coastal environment
The principal beneficiaries of the project are those
The WIO-LaB Project addresses major land-based
whose livelihoods depend on the marine and coastal
activities in the WIO region, and in this respect is
The marine and coastal environment in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is of high
resources of the WIO region. Governmental and non-
designed to serve as a demonstration project for
ecological and economic value. Its natural bounties, including beaches, mangroves,
the "Global Programme of Action for the
governmental institutions will play a key role in the
coral reefs, plant and animal life are the basis for the growing tourism sector,
Protection of the Marine Environment from
implementation of project activities thus enhancing
attracting visitors from over the world. Its marine waters, and in particular its
Land-based Activities (GPA)" of UNEP. The
capacity within these institutions as well as
continental shelves, coastal margins, lagoons and estuaries are important fishing
Project has three major objectives:
complementing and strengthening existing national
grounds. The productive and diverse coastal habitats of the WIO, such as
efforts. At a global level, the project will assist in the
q
Improve the knowledge base and
mangroves, sea-grass meadows and coral reefs provide food and shelter for fishes,
conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity and, in
establish and demonstrate
crustaceans, molluscs and other organisms of ecological and commercial value.
this respect, will assist the countries in complying with
regional strategies for the
their national and regional obligations under various
reduction of stress to the marine
The threats
international legal agreements.
and coastal ecosystem by
improving water and sediment
The coastal zone of the WIO region is the site of most major cities,
quality;
harbours, industries and other socio-economic infrastructure, which
q
Strengthen the regional legal
increasingly affect the environment. Pollution from domestic,
basis for preventing land-based
industrial and agricultural sources causes the degradation of water
sources of pollution, including
and sediment quality, resulting in loss of biological diversity, human
through the implementation of
health problems and a reduction in fish stocks. Human activities also
Participating
the GPA;
lead to the destruction of critical habitats such as mangrove forests,
Countries
q
Develop regional capacity
sea grass beds and coral reefs, and cause physical alteration of the
and strengthen institutions
Continental states
coastal zone, including coastal erosion. Countries in the region
for sustainable, less polluting
Kenya, Tanzania,
currently lack both the capacity and regulatory framework to
Mozambique and
development, including
adequately manage these environmental threats.
South Africa
through the implementation
of the Nairobi Convention
Island states
and its action plan.
A call for action
The Comoros,
The Project "Addressing Land-based Activities in the Western Indian Ocean"
Madagascar,
Strategic Action Plan
Mauritius and
(WIO-LaB) is a deliberate and conscious effort of the people of the WIO region,
Seychelles
The final and key output of the project
taken in response to a call from the First Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the
is a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis
Nairobi Convention in March 1997. The project is furthermore a direct follow-on
(TDA), which will identify and analyse
to the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the related
the key transboundary environmental
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which called for "advanced implementation
problems of the WIO region. The TDA
of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment
will provide the baseline for a Strategic
Action Plan (SAP), representing a regional,
from Land-based Activities (GPA/LBA)". The project was officially launched in
long-term sustainability strategy for
Madagascar in July 2004 during the Fourth meeting of the Contracting Parties to the
implementation for the WIO marine and
Nairobi Convention. During the course of its four year implementation (2004-
coastal environment. The SAP is intended to
2008), the project will address many of the threats identified above.
provide the basis for long term cooperation
between the countries in the WIO region.

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