The Nairobi Convention Secretariat held the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) to the Nairobi Convention at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters at Gigiri in Nairobi Kenya, from 29 March to 1 April 2010. The COP6 was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme in close collaboration with the Government of Kenya, the host and the Government of Mauritius as the Chair of the Bureau of the Nairobi Convention. The theme of the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) meeting was “Sustaining Progress”.

Pursuant to Article 4 (2); Article 19 (1) and (3); and Article 18 of the Nairobi Convention and decision CP5/4 of COP5, the Secretariat also organised a Conference of Plenipotentiaries, as part of the COP6 meeting, which considered and adopted two new legal instruments namely:

1. The Amended Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean (Amended Nairobi Convention); and;
2. The Protocol for the Protection of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean from Land – Based Sources and Activities (LBSA Protocol).

The Conference of Plenipotentiaries and COP6 meeting was a defining moment for the Convention, as the meeting achieved the following: a) adopted the Amended Nairobi Convention b) adopted the LBSA Protocol; c) endorsed the Strategic Action Programme for the Protection of the Marine and Coastal Environment in the Western Indian Ocean from Land- based Sources and Activities (SAP); and d) endorsed the process for developing a new long term action strategy that will replace the 1985 Eastern Africa Action Plan.

Pre-Conference Meetings

Prior to the COP6 meetings two regional meetings were organised back to back with COP6. These included:

i) The First Conference of National Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Committees in the Western Indian Ocean which discussed progress in development of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plans in the Western Indian Ocean region, on 24 to 25 March 2010 in Mombasa, Kenya; and
ii) The Regional Steering Committee meeting for the GEF UNEP-UNDP Project Preparation Grant (PPG) phase for the project entitled Implementing Integrated Water Resource and Wastewater Management in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Small Island Developing States discussed the outputs of the PPG process, on 26 March 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Associated Meetings
During the COP6 meeting sessions, the WIO Regional Stocktaking Meeting was held on 29 March 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop considered progress made in the implementation of all the GEF projects under the International Waters portfolio in the Western Indian Ocean region.

The Sixth COP was also used as a platform to share experiences and lessons learnt in the implementation of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP), the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project (ASCLME) and the Project 'Sustainable Coastal Tourism in Africa Project'. More...