Part Iii: Management Arrangements
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Project Document United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility Governments of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania Programme for the Agulhas & Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Agulhas & Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project PIMS 2205 Brief Description: The Agulhas Current Large Marine Ecosystem (ACLME) stretches from the north end of the Mozambique Channel to Cape Agulhas and is characterized by the swift, warm Agulhas current, a western boundary current that forms part of the anticyclonic Indian Ocean gyre. The Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem (SCLME) extends from the Comoros Islands and the northern tip of Madagascar up to the Horn of Africa. It is characterized by the monsoon-dominated Somali current, which has a strong, northerly flow during the summer, but reverses its flow in the winter. These two LMEs are both complex and interactive, and are strongly influenced by the South Equatorial Current, which is funneled across the Mascarene Plateau east of Madagascar before diverging north and south to become components of the Agulhas and Somali Currents. The LMEs are primarily defined by their bathymetry, hydrography, productivity and biota. They are characterized by a dynamic system of ocean currents and upwelling cells, which regulate climate and influence weather patterns, sea temperatures, water chemistry, productivity, biodiversity and fisheries. They also represent an important repository of living marine resources, which underpin the livelihoods of coastal communities in 10 countries and territories. Biodiversity-wise, the area is considered to be a distinct biogeographical province within the larger Indo-West Pacific region with high levels of regional endemism and a high diversity of marine life, from phytoplankton and zooplankton that drive important commercial and artisanal fisheries, to charismatic and endangered species such as the Coelacanth, dugong, turtles, and many species of cetaceans. Habitat alteration, pollution, overexploitation of biological resources, and the adverse effects of environmental variability represent the main threats to the ecosystems. Environmental variability within the LMEs includes variations in surface seawater temperature, seasonal changes in temperature gradients across the Indian Ocean, and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This variability is a particular concern as it threatens the sustainability of coastal livelihoods, is altering critical habitats and their species compositions (e.g. coral reefs), and is hampering long-term management planning efforts. i Although the processes and ecosystem functions related to these two LMEs have a major influence on the societies and economies of the area, very little detailed information is available upon which to base effective, cooperative transboundary management initiatives. The management of marine resources is currently sectoral and country-based. The main barriers to the development of an ecosystem approach to transboundary management include inadequate data, lack of regionally based and coordinated monitoring and information systems, lack of national and regional capacity, and the absence of full stakeholder involvement. It is impossible, under this situation for governments to manage fisheries and other marine resources in the absence of an understanding of the ocean-atmosphere, trophic and biogeochemical dynamics that characterize the LMEs. Therefore there is a clear need for an effective assessment process to capture the requisite data to fill important gaps in information for management purposes. This project aims to replicate the highly successful approach used by the Benguela Current LME (BCLME) project wherein the presence of BENEFIT (the Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and Training Programme) was instrumental in providing much of the requisite scientific data and information necessary to the development of a TDA and subsequently focused the SAP which is now being used for regional management of the BCLME. The project will not only move the countries of the region toward an important WSSD target i.e. an ecosystem based approach to management of the LMEs, it will also help to achieve other WSSD targets including strengthened regional cooperation frameworks, and the maintenance or restoration of fish stocks on an urgent basis, where possible by 2015. The proposed project is part of a multi-project, multi-agency Programme (The Programme for the Agulhas and Somali Current LMEs) to institutionalize cooperative and adaptive management of these LMEs. A phased approach is planned that progressively builds the knowledge base and strengthens technical and management capabilities at the regional scale to address transboundary environmental concerns within the LMEs, builds political will to undertake threat abatement activities and leverages finances proportionate to management needs. The Programme includes two parallel projects that address land-based sources of pollution (UNEP) and build knowledge for the purposes of managing industrial fisheries (World Bank). Phase 1 of the UNDP project will aim to address the significant coastal and offshore data gaps for these LMEs by capturing essential information relating to the dynamic ocean-atmosphere interface and other interactions that define LMEs along with critical data on artisanal fisheries, larval transport and nursery areas along the coast. The project aims to deliver TDAs and SAPs for the Agulhas Current LME and the southern part of the Somali Current LME (Kenya and Tanzania), which can be expanded when governance within the northern portion of the Somali LME, areas in Somalia, becomes more stable. The parallel UNEP and World Bank Projects will also feed pertinent information into the TDAs/SAPs formulation process, and identify policy, legal and institutional reforms and needed investments to address transboundary priorities. Collectively, the projects build foundational capacities at regional scale for management of the LMEs. Provision is made through the UNDP project for Programme coordination. ii OPERATIONAL FOCAL POINT ENDORSEMENTS COUNTRY FOCAL POINT ENDORSEMENT Comoros Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Mozambique Seychelles South Africa Tanzania iii SIGNATURES FROM GOVERNMENT, IMPLEMENTING AND EXECUTING AGENCY REPRESENTATIVES On Behalf of Governments & Signature Name Title Agencies Comoros Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Mozambique Seychelles Tanzania South Africa UNDP UNOPS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PROGRAMME FOR THE AGULHAS & SOMALI CURRENT LARGE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS....... I ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................... VIII SECTION I: PROJECT RATIONALE ............................................................................................................. 1 PART I: SITUATION ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 1 BACKGROUND – BIOLOGICAL CONTEXT ............................................................................................. 6 BACKGROUND – SOCIO ECONOMIC CONCERNS ................................................................................ 7 BACKGROUND - POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT ................................................................. 9 THREATS TO THE LMEs ...........................................................................................................................11 BASELINE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................13 PART II: STRATEGY .....................................................................................................................................20 THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH, LARGE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS .........................................................20 AND TRANSBOUNDARY ASSESSMENTS ................................................................................................20 THE PROGRAMMATIC APPROACH ........................................................................................................20 Project Objective, Outcomes and Outputs/Activities ..................................................................................23 INTER-LINKAGES BETWEEN PROGRAMME INTERVENTIONS ...........................................................35 EXPECTED GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND LOCAL BENEFITS ...................................................................38 COUNTRY OWNERSHIP, COUNTRY ELIGIBILITY AND COUNTRY DRIVENNESS .............................40 LINKAGES WITH UNDP COUNTRY PROGRAMMES .............................................................................41 LINKAGES WITH GEF FINANCED PROJECTS ......................................................................................41 SUSTAINABILITY .......................................................................................................................................42 REPLICABILITY .........................................................................................................................................43 STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION ...........................................................................................................43 PART III: MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS ..........................................................................................45 IMPLEMENTING AGENCY CONSULTATIONS, LINKAGES, AND COOPERATION .............................45 EXECUTING