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CBD Fourth National Report The State of Eritrea Ministry of Land, Water and Environment Department of Environment The 4th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity Asmara-Eritrea July, 2010 Table of Content ACRONYMS.................................................................................................................................................IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................VI CHAPTER I. OVERVIEW OF BIODIVERSITY STATUS, TREND AND THREATS ......................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Geographical Location and Climate......................................................................................... 2 1.2 OVERVIEW OF ERITREA’S BIODIVERSITY ........................................................................................ 3 1.3 BIODIVERSITY STATUS, TRENDS AND THREAT UNDER DIFFERENT BIOME/ECOSYSTEMS................ 5 1.3.1 Terrestrial Biodiversity............................................................................................................. 5 1.3.1.1 Forest Ecosystem ............................................................................................................................5 1.3.1.2 Woodland Ecosystem ...................................................................................................................11 1.3.1.3 Bush Land/Grassland Ecosystem..................................................................................................14 1.3.1.4 Barren Land/ Semi desert Ecosystem ...........................................................................................16 1.3.2 Marine Biodiversity................................................................................................................. 17 1.3.2.1 Aquatic Ecosystem: ......................................................................................................................19 1.3.2.2 Mainland and Islands Shoreline Ecosystem..................................................................................28 1.3.3 Agricultural Biodiversity......................................................................................................... 29 1.3.3.1 Diversity of Individual Crop Species............................................................................................30 1.3.3.2 Wild Food Products ......................................................................................................................35 1.3.3.3 Rangeland Resources....................................................................................................................36 1.3.3.4 Livestock Diversity.......................................................................................................................39 1.3.3.5 Threats of Agricultural Biodiversity and its Underlying Causes...................................................43 CHAPTER II CURRENT STATUS OF NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN ............................................................................................................................................................. 45 2.1 OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN ..................................... 45 2.2. REVIEW THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN ..... 48 2.2.1 Terrestrial Biodiversity........................................................................................................... 48 2.2.2 Marine Biodiversity................................................................................................................. 61 2.2.3 Agricultural Biodiversity......................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER III SECTORAL AND CROSS-SECTORAL INTEGRATION OR MAINSTREAMING OF BIODIVERSITY CONSIDERATION ................................................................................................. 77 3.1 INTEGRATION INTO SECTORAL POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS ............................................... 77 3.1.1 Agriculture Sector................................................................................................................... 77 3.1.2 Marine and Coastal Sector ..................................................................................................... 80 3.1.3 Transport Sector ..................................................................................................................... 82 3.1.4 Mines Sector............................................................................................................................ 82 3.1.5 Tourism Sector........................................................................................................................ 83 3.1.6 Water Sector............................................................................................................................ 84 3.1.7 Education Sector..................................................................................................................... 85 3.2 INTEGRATION INTO NATIONAL POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS ......................................... 86 3.2.1 Macro policy ........................................................................................................................... 86 3.2.2 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.......................................................................................... 86 3.2.3 National Environmental Management Plan............................................................................ 87 3.2.4 Land Tenure Proclamation (1994).......................................................................................... 87 3.2.5 Draft land use policy............................................................................................................... 87 3.3 SYNERGY BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTIONS (UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFCCC) ....... 88 3.3.1 Preparation of National Action program (NAP)..................................................................... 88 3.3.2 National Capacity Needs Self Assessment .............................................................................. 89 3.3.3 National Biosafety Framework ............................................................................................... 89 3.4 EXTENT OF BIODIVERSITY CONSIDERATIONS IN EIA OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND OTHERS 90 ii 3.5 CONTRIBUTION OF MAINSTREAMING INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF NBSAP AND EXISTING BIODIVERSITY TREND................................................................................................................................. 91 CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS: PROGRESS TOWARDS THE 2010 TARGET AND IMPLEMENTATION .................................................................................................................................. 92 OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN ..................................................................................................................... 92 4.1. PROGRESS TOWARDS THE 2010 TARGETS ............................................................................................ 92 4.2. PROGRESS TOWARDS THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN OF THE CONVENTION . 102 4.3. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................... 106 4.3.1. Assessment of the Implementation of the Convention ...................................................... 106 4.3.2. Lessons learned.................................................................................................................... 107 4.3.3 Future Priorities and Capacity Building Needs.................................................................... 107 4.3.4. Suggested Actions at the Regional and Global Levels.......................................................... 108 APPENDIX I INFORMATION CONCERNING REPORTING PARTY AND PREPARATION OF NATIONAL REPORT ............................................................................................................................... 109 APPENDIX II – FURTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ............................................................. 112 iii ACRONYMS AEAS Association of Eritrean in Agricultural Sciences AMFS Applied Marine and Fisheries Science APDD Agricultural Promotion and Development Division BSF Belgium Survival Fund CBD Convention of Biological Diversity CCA Climate Change Adaptation CDB Convention on Biological Diversity CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CLIMA Center for Legume in Mediterranean Agriculture CMI Coastal Marine and Island CMS Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals COP Country of Party CTTC Consultancy, Training and Testing Center DANIDA Danish International Development Aid DoE Department of Environment DoL Department of Land EAE Environmental Agency for the Environment EAPGREN Eastern Africa Plant Genetic Resources Network ECMIB Eritrean Costal Marine and Island Biodiversity EEQ Environmental Evaluation Questionnaire EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ER-CWP Eritrean Country Water Partnership ER-SNRMF Eritrean Sustainable Natural Resource
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