THE STATE OF ERITREA MINISTRY OF LAND, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014-2020) November 2015 Asmara, Eritrea Foreword ii__________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014 - 2020) ACRONYMS AZE Alliance for Zero Extinction Sites (AZE) BD: Biological Diversity or Biodiversity CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity CBO: Community Based Organization COMSAT: College of Marine Science and Technology COP: Conference of the Parties CITE: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora CMI: Coastal and Marine Islands DKB: Debubawi Keih Bahri (Southern Red Sea) DoE: Department of Environment DoL: Department of Land DoWR: Department of Water Resources EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment EIT: Eritrean Institute of Technology FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation FWA: Forestry and Wildlife Authority GDP: Gross Domestic Product GEF: Global Environment Facility GOE: Government of Eritrea HAC: Hamelmalo Agricultural College ICAM: Integrated Coastal Area Management ICARDA: International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ITPGRFA: International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture IPM: Integrated Pest Management IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature MARPOL: International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships MoEM: Ministry of Energy and Mines MoA: Ministry of Agriculture MoLG: Ministry of Local Government MoMR: Ministry of Marine Resources MoND: Ministry of National Development MoT: Ministry of Tourism MoLWE: Ministry of Land Water and Environment MSY: Maximum Sustainable Yield NAPA: National Adaptation Programme of Action NARI: National Agricultural Research Institution NBSAP: National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan NEMP-E: National Environmental Management Plan for Eritrea NGO’s: Non-Governmental Organisations NUEW: National Union of Eritrean Women NUEYS: National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students ODS Ozone Depleting Substances PA: Protected Area PGR: Plant Genetic Resource PHS Population and Health Survey PIC: Planning and Implementation Committee PPAs: Proposed Protected Areas SDM: Semenawi and Debubawi Bahri SFM: Sustainable Financial Management SKB: Semenawi Keih Bahri (Northern Red Sea) iii__________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014 - 2020) SLM: Sustainable Land Management UNDP: United Nations Development Programme UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change iv__________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014 - 2020) v__________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014 - 2020) TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... vi PREFACE ............................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ x 1.1Background and Context .........................................................................................x 1.2The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) .....................................................x CHAPTER 2: COUNTRY PROFILE ................................................................... 11 2.1 Location ..................................................................................................................11 2.2 Population ..............................................................................................................11 2.3 Climate and Geography ........................................................................................11 2.4 Government ...........................................................................................................12 2.5 Economy .................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 3: THE STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY IN ERITREA ................... 15 3.1 Terrestrial Biodiversity .........................................................................................18 3.1.1 Terrestrial Biodiversity at the Ecosystem Level ........................................19 3.1.2 Terrestrial Biodiversity at the Species Level .............................................20 3.2 Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity .............................................................23 3.3 Agricultural Biodiversity ......................................................................................26 3.3.1 Crop genetic diversity: .................................................................................26 3.3.2 Pasture species: .............................................................................................29 3.3.3 Trees and Shrubs Important for Agriculture:...........................................29 3.3.4 Livestock diversity: ......................................................................................29 3.3.5 Status of Agricultural Biodiversity .............................................................31 3.3.6 Agricultural biodiversity conservation .......................................................34 3.4 Taxonomic knowledge ...........................................................................................35 CHAPTER 4: NATIONAL POLICY, LEGISLATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................. 36 4.1 Institutional Context .............................................................................................36 4.1.1 National Level Institutional Context .........................................................36 4.1.2 Regional/Zonal Level Institutional Context ..............................................38 4.1.3 Sub-Regional Level Institutional Context .................................................39 4.1.4 Community level institutional Context: ....................................................39 4.2 Policy and Legal Context ......................................................................................40 4.2.1 National level policy and legal context .......................................................40 4.3 Current analysis of institutional, policy and legal framework ..........................50 CHAPTER 5: STRATEGIC GOALS AND ACTION PLAN FOR BIODIVERSITY ............................................................................... 52 5.1 Vision 52 5.2 Mission 52 5.3 General Principles .................................................................................................52 5.4 Overall Objectives .................................................................................................53 5.4.1 Terrestrial Biodiversity ................................................................................54 5.4.2 Coastal, marine and Island Biodiversity ....................................................54 5.4.3 Agricultural Biodiversity .............................................................................54 5.5 Strategic Goals and Biodiversity Targets ............................................................54 5.5.1 General Targets ............................................................................................58 vi__________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVISED NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN FOR ERITREA (2014 - 2020) 5.5.2 Ecosystem-specific Targets: ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.5.2 Ecosystem-specific Targets: .........................................................................63 CHAPTER 6: IMPLEMENATION ARRANGEMENTS ................................. 135 6.1 Implementation Mechanism ...............................................................................135 6.2 Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................136 6.3 Lessons learned ....................................................................................................136 List of contributors/ participants in NBSAP updating process ........................ 140 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 142 Annexes_____________________________________________________ ANNEX 1: Marine birds recorded and their status along the Red Sea. ECMIB Bird Team Unpublished Report, 2008 ..........................................................................148 ANNEX 2: Common and local (Afar) names and IUCN Category of Sea Turtles in Eritrea. ECMIB Sea Turtle Unpublished Report, 2008 ............................................150 ANNEXE 3: Genera of Corals (44) found n the Eritrean Red Sea. ECMIB Coral Unpublished