Tanzania: Government to Stem Beach Encroachment

Dar es Salaam — Dar es Salaam has stressed the need for preserving the environment in its entire coastline beaches and rivers in order to make the country profit from its coastline.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam last week the Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development Prof Anna Tibaijuka said it was embarrassing to see that most of the houses and or construction taking place along coasts of the beaches were not following the requirements as stipulated in the laws .

"The law requires that any construction along the beaches should be 60 metres off the high water mark, " Tibaijuka says.

She said there would be a country wide operation aimed at restoring the urban order developments plan in order to recover open spaces which were illegally occupied.

"There are about 70 plots in Dar es salaam along the coast of Dar es Salaam beaches with title deeds and these plots are legally owned by the public and we are looking into the best ways to relocate and or give them, other plots because such developments are close to the ocean and a threat to environment" Tibaijuka said

She stressed the importance of abiding by the rules and regulations so that the environment could be protected.

Tibaijuka said it was important for the public to make sure that plots which had been legally owned saw the developments in order to utilize the land fully.

She said she saw no reason why Kariakoo market, the biggest in Dar es Salaam should fail to develop a market plot at its Mbezi to the outskirts of Dar es Salaam it purchased some 20 years ago.

Tibaijuka warned that most of the plots close to the beaches which were invaded after the environmental law was passed will be recovered without compensation.

Early in the week the vice President of Tanzania met Tibaijuka and the Minister for Environment in the president's office Terezya Huvisa to discuss among others on how the issue of demolishing houses built close to the oceans will be implemented.

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On biodiversity day, UN chief calls for greater protection of world’s oceans

Marking the International Day for Biological Diversity, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the fragile state of the world’s oceans, urging greater protection for marine biodiversity.

“Oceans cover almost three-quarters of the surface area of the globe. They are home to the largest animal known to have lived on the planet – the blue whale – as well as billions upon billions of the tiniest of microorganisms. From sandy shores to the darkest depths of the sea, oceans and coasts support a rich tapestry of life on which human communities rely,” Mr. Ban said in a message to mark the Day.

“Yet, despite its importance, marine biodiversity… has not fared well at human hands,” he added.

The General Assembly proclaimed 22 May as the International Day for Biological Diversity, to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The theme for this year’s observance is marine diversity.

In his message, Mr. Ban noted the impact of commercial over-exploitation of the world’s fish stocks, with more than half of global fisheries exhausted and a further third depleted, and between 30 and 35 per cent of critical marine environments – such as seagrasses, mangroves and coral reefs – estimated to have been destroyed. As well, plastic debris continues to kill marine life, and pollution from land is creating areas of coastal waters that are almost devoid of oxygen.

“Added to all of this, increased burning of fossil fuels is affecting the global climate, making the sea surface warmer, causing sea level to rise and increasing ocean acidity, with consequences we are only beginning to comprehend,” he noted.

According to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the survival of marine and coastal ecosystems and biodiversity is essential to the nutritional, spiritual, societal and religious well-being of many communities, and not just those in coastal areas. Amongst its findings, it notes that fisheries provide more than 15 per cent of the global dietary intake of animal protein; oceans and coastal areas provide invaluable ecosystem services, from tourism to protection from storms; and, minuscule photosynthesizing plants called phytoplankton provide 50 per cent of all the oxygen on Earth.

Amidst the concerns over the future of marine biodiversity, Mr. Ban said, “there is hope.” He pointed to a 2011 scientific review which showed that, despite all the damage inflicted on marine wildlife and habitats over the past centuries, between ten and 50 per cent of populations and ecosystems have shown some recovery when human threats were reduced or removed.

“However, compared to the land – where nearly 15 per cent of surface area is under some kind of protection – little more than one per cent of marine environments are protected,” the UN chief said. “Lately, some progress is being made, particularly with the establishment of large-scale marine reserves and documenting areas of ecological or biological significance in open-ocean and deep-sea habitats.”

Mr. Ban said the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, next month, will provide an opportunity to recommit to building on advances made so far.

“Rio+20 must galvanize action to improve the management and conservation of oceans through initiatives by the United Nations, governments and other partners to curb overfishing, expand marine protected areas and reduce ocean pollution and the impact of climate change,” Mr. Ban said. “By taking action at the national, regional and global levels, including enhancing international cooperation, we can achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Target of conserving 10 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2020, a crucial step in protecting marine biodiversity for the future we want.”

The CBD entered into force in December 1993, with three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

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Seagrasses Can Store as Much Carbon as Forests

Seagrasses are a vital part of the solution to climate change and, per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world's temperate and tropical forests.

So report researchers publishing a paper this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The paper, "Seagrass Ecosystems as a Globally Significant Carbon Stock," is the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses.

The results demonstrate that coastal seagrass beds store up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, mostly in the soils beneath them.

As a comparison, a typical terrestrial forest stores about 30,000 metric tons per square kilometer, most of which is in the form of wood.

The research also estimates that, although seagrass meadows occupy less than 0.2 percent of the world's oceans, they are responsible for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea.

"Seagrasses only take up a small percentage of global coastal area, but this assessment shows that they're a dynamic ecosystem for carbon transformation," said James Fourqurean, the lead author of the paper and a scientist at Florida International University and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site.

The Florida Coastal Everglades LTER site is one of 26 such NSF LTER sites around the world in ecosystems from forests to tundra, coral reefs to barrier islands.

"Seagrasses have the unique ability to continue to store carbon in their roots and soil in coastal seas," said Fourqurean. "We found places where seagrass beds have been storing carbon for thousands of years."

The research was led by Fourqurean in partnership with scientists at the Spanish High Council for Scientific Investigation, the Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia, Bangor University in the United Kingdom, the University of Southern Denmark, the Hellenic Center for Marine Research in Greece, Aarhus University in Denmark and the University of Virginia.

Seagrass meadows, the researchers found, store ninety percent of their carbon in the soil--and continue to build on it for centuries.

In the Mediterranean, the geographic region with the greatest concentration of carbon found in the study, seagrass meadows store carbon in deposits many meters deep.

Seagrasses are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. Some 29 percent of all historic seagrass meadows have been destroyed, mainly due to dredging and degradation of water quality. At least 1.5 percent of Earth's seagrass meadows are lost every year.

The study estimates that emissions from destruction of seagrass meadows can potentially emit up to 25 percent as much carbon as those from terrestrial deforestation.

"One remarkable thing about seagrass meadows is that, if restored, they can effectively and rapidly sequester carbon and reestablish lost carbon sinks," said paper co-author Karen McGlathery, a scientist at the University of Virginia and NSF's Virginia Coast Reserve LTER site.

The Virginia Coast Reserve and Florida Coastal Everglades LTER sites are known for their extensive seagrass beds.

Seagrasses have long been recognized for their many ecosystem benefits: they filter sediment from the oceans; protect coastlines against floods and storms; and serve as habitats for fish and other marine life.

The new results, say the scientists, emphasize that conserving and restoring seagrass meadows may reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon stores--while delivering important "ecosystem services" to coastal communities.

The research is part of the Blue Carbon Initiative, a collaborative effort of Conservation International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

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Rapid Coral Death by a Deadly Chain Reaction

Most people are fascinated by the colorful and exotic coral reefs, which form habitats with probably the largest biodiversity. But human civilization is the top danger to these fragile ecosystems through climate change, oxygen depletion and ocean acidification. Industrialization, deforestation and intensive farming in coastal areas are changing dramatically the conditions for life in the oceans. Now scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology from Bremen together with their colleagues from Australia, Sultanate of Oman and Italy have investigated how and why the corals die when exposed to sedimentation. According to their findings, oxygen depletion, together with an acidification of the environment, creates a chain reaction that leads to coral death.

Reef forming stone corals inhabit the light-flooded tropical shallow coastal regions 30 degree south and north of the equator. Coral polyps build the carbonate skeletons that form the extensive reefs over hundreds to thousands of years. Photosynthesis of the symbiotic algae inside the polyps produces oxygen and carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, thereby feeding the polyps.

Since the 1980s the process of coral bleaching is under study: elevated temperatures of 1 to 3 degrees induce the algae to produce toxins. The polyps react by expelling the algae and the coral reef loses its color as if it was bleached. Without its symbionts the coral can survive only several weeks.

In coastal areas with excessive soil erosion where rivers flush nutrients, organics and sediments to the sea, corals can die quickly when exposed to sedimentation. Miriam Weber, scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, explains the scientific approach."Our idea was that a combination of enhanced deposition of sediments with elevated organic matter load and naturally occurring microorganisms can cause the sudden coral death. To get a handle on the diverse physical, chemical and biological parameters we performed our experiments at the Australian Institute for Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville under controlled conditions in large containers (mesocosms), mimicking the natural habitat."

The team of researchers found out the crucial steps:

Phase 1: When a two millimeter layer of sediment enriched with organic compounds covers the corals, the algae will stop photosynthesis, as the light is blocked.

Phase 2: If the sediments are organically enriched, then digestion of the organic material by microbial activity reduces oxygen concentrations underneath the sediment film to zero. Other microbes take over digesting larger carbon compounds via fermentation and hydrolysis thereby lowering the pH.

Phase 3: Lack of oxygen and acidic conditions harm small areas of coral tissue irreversibly. The dead material is digested by microbes producing hydrogen sulfide, a compound that is highly toxic for the remaining corals. The process gains momentum and the remainder of the sediment-covered coral surface is killed in less than 24 hours.

Miriam Weber: "First we thought that the toxic hydrogen sulfide is the first killer, but after intensive studies in the lab and mathematical modeling we could demonstrate that the organic enrichment is the proximal cause, as it leads to lack of oxygen and acidification, kicking the corals out of their natural balance. Hydrogen sulfide just speeds up the spreading of the damage. We were amazed that a mere 1% organic matter in the sediments is enough to trigger this process. The extreme effect of the combination of oxygen depletion and acidification are of importance, keeping in mind the increasing acidification of the oceans. If we want to stop this destruction we need some political sanctions to protect coral reefs."

Katharina Fabricius from the AIMS adds: "This study has documented for the first time the mechanisms why those sediments that are enriched with nutrients and organic matter will damage coral reefs, while nutrient-poor sediments that are resuspended from the seafloor by winds and waves have little effect on reef health. Better land management practices are needed to minimize the loss of top soil and nutrients from the land, so that they are not being washed into the coastal sea."

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International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards.

These International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards were developed through a participatory process involving fisheries experts, fishery managers from governments, the fishing industry, academia and non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations. The guidelines are designed to provide guidance on management factors ranging from an appropriate regulatory framework to the components of a good data collection programme, and include the identification of key management considerations and measures necessary to ensure the conservation of target and non-target species, as well as affected habitats. These guidelines are voluntary and constitute an instrument of reference to help States and RFMO/As in formulating and implementing appropriate measures for the management of bycatch and reduction of discards in all fisheries and regions of the world.

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Kenya close to sealing more offshore oil search deals

Kenya is close to sealing a deepwater exploration contract with France's Total and has offered three other oil majors new offshore blocks, the Commissioner of Petroleum at the Ministry of Energy said.

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Indian Naval Ship completes hydrographic survey requirements for 2012

The Indian Naval Ship, INS Darshak, has completed the hydrographic surveys for regions ranging from Bel Ombre to Blue Bay and from Flic en Flac to Albion. The surveys were undertaken between 27 April and 11 May under the Indo-Mauritian Hydrographic cooperation programme.

The hydrographic survey data known as fair sheets were remitted this morning to the Minister of Housing and Lands, Dr A. Kasenally, by the High Commissioner of India, Mr T.P. Seetharam, in the presence of Captain Nautiyal from the INS Darshak, at the Conference room of the Ministry in Ebène. The data will also be sent to the National Hydrographic Office in Dehradun, India, for verification and for the production of the navigational charts as per the standards of the International Hydrographic Organisation.

The Minister of Housing and Lands, in his remarks, highlighted the positive outcome derived since the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding between Mauritius and India in the field of hydrography in October 2005. The benefits comprise the completion of 18 hydrographic surveys around Mauritius, Agalega islands, St Brandon shoals and Port Mathurin harbour and its approaches; the production of five new navigational charts which are available for sale; capacity building for local officers as well as contributing to the success of the claim for the extended continental shelf for Mauritius.

According to Dr Kasenally, the production and availability of the hydrographic surveys ensure navigational safety for ships in the local waters thus boosting maritime trade in and around the island, and enhance fishing and touristic activities without fear of unknown navigational dangers. The Minister also stated that India is providing technical assistance for the initial reinforcement and capacity building of the Hydrographic Unit in Mauritius and for the provision of a survey motor boat.

For his part, the High Commissioner of India stressed the close collaboration between India and Mauritius and the contribution of those hydrographic activities to strengthening bilateral cooperation. The hydrographic surveys will help in ensuring safe maritime movement, and enable Mauritius to gain knowledge about, and exploit, the resources in its vast exclusive economic zone to their maximum potential, he added.

The hydrographic surveys followed the seventh Indo-Mauritian Joint Meeting held in Mauritius from 22 to 24 February 2012. During the meeting, various stakeholders namely the Ministry of Fisheries, the National Coast Guard, the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure and the Mauritius Research Council presented their requirements for 2012. Those included the bathymetric survey of the southern coast of Mauritius for the placement of fish aggregating devices and the survey of Le Morne.

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South Africa: US$4m shellfish consignment seized at Beitbridge

A SOUTH African truck driver smuggled US$4 million worth of abalone shellfish into Zimbabwe concealed under a consignment of charcoal, a court heard.

Joseph Ndinganeni Ndou was intercepted at the Beitbridge border on May 1 after failing to declare the contraband.

Prosecutors say the charcoal and the illicit shellfish load were ordered by a Harare company, Sitric Marketing.

Investigators believe the abalone – an endangered species in most countries – were destined for the Far East.

Ndou, 48, of Nancefield in Musina, was not asked to plead when he appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Gloria Takundwa on Tuesday.

He was released on US$100 after being charged with one count of smuggling under the Customs and Excise Act.

Prosecuting, Jabulani Mberesi said sometime in April, Sitric Marketing had placed an order for abalone and charcoal from South Africa.

They later engaged Chabata Transport Company to move the charcoal and shellfish to Zimbabwe.

Ndou arrived at the border on May 1 with invoices only reflecting his charcoal load. He made a false declaration to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).

Acting on a tip-off, detectives from the Border Control and Minerals Unit intercepted Ndou’s truck at a final check-point and directed it to a Zimra container depot for physical examination.

Under the charcoal load, police found 500 packets of abalone worth $3,853,556.36.

Abalones are large edible sea snails with a shallow ear-shaped shell found mostly in warm seas. The mollusc attaches itself to a rock or stone using its muscular foot. The fleshy foot of the abalone is boiled, dried in the sun, and canned for export.

Trade in abalones is banned in Zimbabwe. South Africa indefinitely suspended abalone fishing in its waters in February 2008 to save the species from extinction.

Abalones are a delicacy in Asia and investigators believe that is where the consignment was ultimately destined after drying and canning.

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Wildlife Conservation Society Madagascar Marine News

Please find attached the last issue of WCS Madagascar Marine Program newsletter, December 2011 to April 2012 edition.

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Mozambique: Anadarko Announces Major New Gas Discovery

The Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday announced that it has found a major new gas field in the Rovuma Basin off the coast of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.

The company announced that it has discovered up to 20 trillion cubic feet of gas at the Golfinho well located just ten miles off the coast, and estimates that the Golfinho area could hold up to 45 trillion cubic feet of gas. Anadarko found more than 193 net feet (59 net metres) of natural gas pay at Golfinho.

This new discovery is in addition to the gas already found in the company’s nearby Prosperidade complex, which is estimated to hold between 17 and 30 plus trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

The discovery is 32 kilometres north west of the Prosperidade complex, within Offshore Area 1, where Anadarko is the operator. The company still has three more locations to explore within Offshore Area 1: Orca, Atum and Linguado.

Bob Daniels, Anadarko’s Senior Vice President for Worldwide Exploration, pointed out that “the success of the Golfinho well significantly expands the tremendous resource potential of the Offshore Area 1 in the deep-water Rovuma Basin, with additional opportunities yet to test. This new discovery is only 10 miles offshore, providing potential cost advantages for future development options”.

Anadarko is the operator of Offshore Area 1 and holds a 36.5 per cent share of the fields. Its co-owners are Mitsui of Japan (20 per cent), BPRL Ventures and Videocon (both of India, with 10 per cent each) and Cove Energy of Britain (8.5 per cent). The Mozambican government is represented by Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos which holds a 15 per cent interest in the fields.

Royal Dutch Shell recently put in a bid of 1.8 billion US dollars to buy Cove Energy. That offer was based on Shell buying shares at 220 pence. However, Cove’s shares jumped up in price on the announcement of the new find and are currently trading at above 228 pence per share.

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South Africa Signs IMO Anti-Piracy Code

The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (Djibouti Code of Conduct) was today (15 May 2012) signed on behalf of South Africa by the South African High Commissioner, His Excellency Dr.  Zola Skweyiya, who was attending an IMO Conference on Capacity Building to Counter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (on Tuesday, 15 May).

South Africa has become the 19th State to sign the Code of Conduct, set up byIMO to develop regional capacity to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean. The other signatories are: the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, the Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. 

Signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct, which has been in effect since 29 January 2009, undertake to co-operate in a variety of activities, including:

• the investigation, arrest and prosecution of persons reasonably suspected of having committed acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, including those inciting or intentionally facilitating such acts;

• the interdiction and seizure of suspect ships and property on board such ships;

• the rescue of ships, persons and property subject to piracy and armed robbery and the facilitation of proper care, treatment and repatriation of seafarers, fishermen, other shipboard personnel and passengers subject to such acts, particularly those who have been subjected to violence; and

• the conduct of shared operations – both among signatory States and with navies from countries outside the region – such as nominating law enforcement or other authorized officials to embark on patrol ships or aircraft of another signatory.

In addition, the Code provides for the sharing of related information, through the three Information Sharing Centres in Sana'a, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam which have been established under the Code.  

Signatories to the Code also undertake to review their national legislation with a view to ensuring that there are laws in place to criminalize piracy and armed robbery against ships and to make adequate provision for the exercise of jurisdiction, conduct of investigations and prosecution of alleged offenders.

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Roadmap Towards Sustainable Pole-And-Line-Caught Tuna

Research conducted at the University of York offers a blueprint for the long-term sustainability of tuna caught using the pole-and-line method.

The report, written by Steve Rocliffe of the University of York's Environment Department, looks specifically at the role of baitfish -- small fish released into the sea to attract tuna schools within range of a vessel's fishing gear.

It reveals the first ever global estimate of baitfish required to catch tuna using the pole-and-line technique -- 25,000 tonnes per year -- and identifies several environmental and social issues associated with fishing for this bait. Chief among these issues is the use of juvenile fish as well as the complex interactions between live baitfish fisheries, local communities and tourism industries, the report shows.

Ensuring Sustainability of Livebait Fish calls for more research into these impacts. It also argues that improving management in bait fisheries through the introduction of management plans and stock assessments could resolve most of these issues and ensure that pole-and-line remains the most responsible and sustainable way to fish for tuna.

Pole-and-line fishing is a simple approach to catching tuna with a hooked line attached to a pole. On locating a school of tuna, pole-and-line vessels scatter live bait into the sea in a process known as "chumming." This creates the illusion of a large school of small fish near the surface, sending the tuna into such a feeding frenzy that they will bite at any shiny, moving object in the water, even un-baited hooks.

The report was compiled in collaboration with the not-for-profit International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF). The Foundation, launched in April 2012, works to help develop sustainable and equitable pole-and-line fisheries and to increase the market share of sustainably and equitably caught pole-and-line tuna.

Steve Rocliffe said: "Pole-and-line fishing is one of the most environmentally and socially desirable methods of catching tuna, but like any method, it isn't perfect. As demand for responsibly sourced tuna grows, it's vital to ensure that the bait fisheries on which pole-and-line depends are well-managed and regularly assessed."

"Sustainable live bait fisheries are in everyone's interests," said Andrew Bassford, co-founder of the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNFF). "As a priority, we're developing best practise guidelines for baitfish management plans and providing skill sharing, training and capacity building to improve community and coastal states' ability to manage baitfish fisheries on a long-term sustainable and equitable basis."

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South Africa: Protecting Marine Life With Plastic

Innovative plastic pipe bins are being used in a waste removal project - the first of its kind in South Africa - to clear discarded fishing line from beaches along the country's coastline.

The bins have an opening at the top, where the pipe curves, and the bottom is sealed to prevent fishing line from blowing away.

The specially designed bins form part of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust pilot project, an initiative that aims to reduce the number of sea animals and birds that get tangled in marine debris. The project operates along the Gansbaai shoreline in the Western Cape.

Dyer Island, a 20-hectare nature reserve, is home to large numbers of sea and shore birds. It is also an important breeding site for vulnerable birds such as African penguins, endangered bank cormorant and roseate tern.

The South African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (Sappma), a group of companies in the plastic piping business, together with one of its members, DPI Plastics, has provided a major boost for the project by donating plastic pipes to build more bins where fishermen can throw away their old lines.

"By donating these pipes, we are doing something practical to reduce the amount of fishing line entering and remaining in the marine environment," says Sappma CEO Jan Venter.

The first network of 21 bins has already been placed at local beaches and popular fishing spots such as Franskraal, Gansbaai, Kleinbaai, Romansbaai, Pearly beach and Kleinmond.

The donation has made it possible to expand the project and install another 100 bins at other areas along the coastline, including Betty's Bay, Hermanus and fishing areas at blue-flag beaches managed by the Wildlife and Environmental Association of Southern Africa.

Unusual bins

The plastic pipe bins are unlike standard round bins found at beaches - they look just like the submarine periscopes used by skippers to scout for threats on the surface of the water.

They are made from PVC elbow pipes that are mounted on long wooden poles.

The bins have an opening at the top, where the pipe curves, and the bottom is sealed to prevent fishing line from blowing away.

"These pipes are perfect for the job at hand as they offer outstanding resistance to corrosion and the elements", Venter says.

The bins have been placed at beaches and fishing spots in the area and anglers are encouraged to use them to recycle or dispose of their used fishing line. Municipality officials are responsible for opening and removing the waste on a weekly basis.

Fishing for ideas

John Kieser, environmental manager for coastal provinces and international coastal cleanup coordinator of Plastics SA, got the idea to use plastic pipes after a visit to the US two years ago.

He was attending the international coastal cleanup conference where he saw a similar successful project started by the Boat US Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to promoting safe and environmentally sensitive boating.

He then approached Sappma to see if they wanted to get involved.

A practical plan to protect marine life

The fishing line recovery project is a much-needed intervention to remove hazardous marine debris from South Africa's beaches and reduce environmental damage caused by discarded fishing line at coastal areas.

According to Venter, discarded fishing line is listed eighth out of the top ten pollutants on beaches - and is the most hazardous to animals such as penguins and seals.

It is sometimes accidentally ingested by birds and animals, resulting in injury or death, and it is dangerous to boaters and swimmers. Fishing line is also used by birds for nesting material, causing chicks to become trapped in nests.

"Most of the smaller marine animals found each year are entangled in this material," Venter says.

"Discarded fishing material such as nets, monofilament line, crayfish traps and anchor ropes are responsible for far more damage to large marine life than any other marine debris found at sea."

Monofilament fishing line is also a major coastal polluter, as it takes more than 500 years to decompose.

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One-Quarter of Grouper Species Being Fished to Extinction

Groupers, a family of fishes often found in coral reefs and prized for their quality of flesh, are facing critical threats to their survival. As part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, a team of scientists has spent the past ten years assessing the status of 163 grouper species worldwide. They report that 20 species (12%) are at risk of extinction if current overfishing trends continue, and an additional 22 species (13%) are Near Threatened.

These findings were published online on April 28 in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

"Fish are one of the last animal resources commercially harvested from the wild by humans, and groupers are among the most desirable fishes," said Dr. Luiz Rocha, Curator of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences, and one of the paper's authors. "Unfortunately, the false perception that marine resources are infinite is still common in our society, and in order to preserve groupers and other marine resources we need to reverse this old mentality."

The team estimates that at least 90,000,000 groupers were captured in 2009. This represents more than 275,000 metric tonnes of fish, an increase of 25% from 1999, and 1600% greater than 1950 figures. The Caribbean Sea, coastal Brazil, and Southeast Asia are home to a disproportionately high number of the 20 Threatened grouper species. (A species is considered "Threatened" if it is Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable under IUCN criteria.)

Groupers are among the highest priced market reef species (estimated to be a multi-billion dollar per year industry), are highly regarded for the quality of their flesh, and are often among the first reef fishes to be overexploited. Their disappearance from coral reefs could upset the ecological balance of these threatened ecosystems, since they are ubiquitous predators and may play a large role in controlling the abundance of animals farther down the food chain.

Unfortunately, groupers take many years (typically 5-10) to become sexually mature, making them vulnerable for a relatively long time before they can reproduce and replenish their populations. In addition, fisheries have exploited their natural behavior of gathering in great numbers during the breeding season. The scientists also conclude that grouper farming (mariculture) has not mitigated overfishing in the wild.

Although the prognosis is poor for the restoration and successful conservation of Threatened grouper species, the authors do recommend some courses of action, including optimizing the size and location of Marine Protected Areas, minimum size limits for individual fish, quotas on the amount of catch, limits on the number of fishers, and seasonal protection during the breeding season. However, the scientists stress that "community awareness and acceptance, and effective enforcement are paramount" for successful implementation, as well as "action at the consumer end of the supply chain by empowering customers to make better seafood choices."

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The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea

IN 1998 a rise in sea temperatures caused by El Niño, a periodic eastward surge of warm Pacific water, caused a mass bleaching of the world’s coral reefs, the permanent or temporary home of perhaps a quarter of all marine species. Up to 90% of the Indian Ocean’s technicoloured reefs turned to skeletal wastes, largely devoid of life. Had this happened to rainforests—coral’s terrestrial equivalent—a sea-change in attitudes to the environment could have been expected. But because this change occurred in the sea, the calamity drew remarkably little comment.

Traditional attitudes towards the sea, as something immutable and distant to humanity, are hugely out of date. The temperature change that harmed the corals was not caused by human activity; yet it was a foretaste of what man is now doing to the sea. The effects of overfishing, agricultural pollution and anthropogenic climate change, acting in concert, are devastating marine ecosystems. Though corals are returning to many reefs, there is a fair chance that in just a few decades they will all be destroyed, as ocean temperatures rise owing to global warming. The industrial pollution that is cooking the climate could also cause another problem: carbon dioxide, absorbed by the sea from the atmosphere, turns to carbonic acid, which is a threat to coral, mussels, oysters and any creature with a shell of calcium carbonate.

The enormity of the sea’s troubles, and their implications for mankind, are mind-boggling. Yet it is equally remarkable how little this is recognised by policymakers—let alone the general public. Killer sharks are a more appealing subject than algal blooms; though they are much less deadly. There is also a dearth of good and comprehensive books on a subject that can seem too complicated and depressing for any single tome. Callum Roberts, a conservation biologist, has now provided one.

He starts with a bold claim: that anthropogenic stresses are changing the oceans faster than at almost any time in the planet’s history. That may be putting it too strongly. Yet there is no quibbling with the evidence of marine horrors that Mr Roberts presents.

Take overfishing. The industrialisation of fishing fleets has massively increased man’s capability to scoop protein from the deep. An estimated area equivalent to half the world’s continental shelves is trawled every year, including by vast factory ships able to put to sea for weeks on end. Yet what they are scraping is the bottom of the barrel: most commercial species have been reduced by over 75% and some, like whitetip sharks and common skate, by 99%. For all the marvellous improvements in technology, British fishermen, mostly using sail-power, caught more than twice as much cod, haddock and plaice in the 1880s as they do today. By one estimate, for every hour of fishing, with electronic sonar fish finders and industrial winches, dredges and nets, they catch 6% of what their forebears caught 120 year ago.

Overfishing is eradicating the primary protein source of one in five people, many of them poor. It also weakens marine ecosystems, making them even more vulnerable to big changes coming downstream.

For example, there is the matter of chemical pollution, mostly from agricultural run-off. This has created over 400 dead-zones, where algal tides turn the sea anoxic for all or part of the year. One of the biggest, at the mouth of the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico, covers 20,000 square km (7,700 square miles) of ocean. An annual event, mainly caused by the run-off of agricultural fertilisers from 40% of America’s lower 48 states, it makes the one-off Deepwater Horizon oil-spill look modest by comparison.

Global warming is another problem. Hitherto, the sea has been a buffer against it: because the heat capacity of water is several times that of air, the oceans have sucked up most of the additional heat, sparing the continents further warming. Yet this is now starting to change—faster than almost anyone had dared imagine.

One effect of the warming ocean, for example, is to increase the density difference between the surface and the chilly deep, which in turn decreases mixing of them. That means less oxygen is making it down to the depths, reducing the liveability of the oceans. Off America’s west coast, the upper limit of low-oxygen water is thought to have risen by 100 metres. Where strong winds bring this water nearer to the surface, there are mass die-offs of marine life. Such events will proliferate as the climate warms.

This is a poor lookout for already put-upon fish. “Fish under temperature and oxygen stress will reach smaller sizes, live less long and will have to devote a bigger fraction of their energy to survival at the cost of growth and reproduction,” writes Mr Roberts. And that is before he gets to the effects of ocean acidification, which could be very bad indeed. Without dramatic action to reverse these processes, he predicts a catastrophe comparable to the mass extinctions of the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, when carbon-dioxide levels, temperature and ocean acidity all rocketed. He writes: “Not for 55m years has there been oceanic disruption of comparable severity to the calamity that lies just a hundred years ahead.” That would be hard to prove; it would be better not to try.

So what is to be done? Mr Roberts provides a hundred pages of answers, occupying roughly a third of the book. They range from the obvious—curbing carbon emissions—to technical fixes, like genetic improvements to aquaculture stocks. None is impossible; and Mr Roberts, almost incredibly, describes himself as an optimist. He writes, “We can change. We can turn around our impacts on the biosphere.” We had better do so.

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Kenya: Watamu Set to Become Cleaner, Greener

Environmentalists in Watamu have received a recycling machine from donors to begin income generating activity from plastic wastes. The facility was donated to the Watamu Community Solid Waste Management and Recycling Enterprises to enable them recycle all the plastic materials collected and help create a conducive environment for both locals and tourists.

At the same time the conservation groups have also embarked on making curio products from all the rubber materials and other wastes collected in the beaches. Steve Trot the Chairman of Watamu Marine Association an umbrella of conservation groups in Watamu that help in protecting the environment said they were working hand in hand with the community and hoteliers to ensure the resort town was kept clean and green.

In an interview with journalists at the WMA offices he said the move is aimed at creating an enterprise that will generate income and at the same time help in conservation.

He said they intend to collect thousands of kilogrammes of plastics for recycling to sale them at Plastic industries in Nairobi. "Our aim is to keep the beaches clean, reduce pollution in the marine park and keep the Watamu streets clean for the welfare of the community," he said.

The initiative he said began in 2009 following an increase in plastic wastes forcing them to lay out the management plan which had proved successful to date. Already their efforts he said had been recognized ad they won an international award from South Africa for their entrepreneurial skills and environmental protection.

Trot said they had got a team of artists who used the wastes collected from the beaches to make curio products for sale in the local hotels. "Waste free environment is important, it helps protect marine lives like the turtles, fish and coral reefs which are high tourist attractions," he said.

Most of the shores of the beaches he said were turtle breeding grounds and were dangerous if consumed by the fish, He said tourists could easily shun away from visiting the resort town if the environment was not kept clean both in the beaches and the villages.

The WMA chairman said hotels and the community had really offered support in their efforts to conserve the environment through sponsorship and human resource development. "Our vision for Watamu is to recycle any recyclable waste materials, generate profit and maintain a conducive environment for living," he said.

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Seychelles: Environment gets funding for a national database

The Department of Environment through UNDP supported funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has received equipment and software to support the development of a national environmental database.

This is a consultancy being undertaken under two separate projects (the Capacity Building CB2 project and the Biodiversity project respectively) managed by the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit (PCU).

It is in line with one of the project outcomes to assist the Department of Environment and other relevant authorities to develop appropriate GIS tools for biodiversity conservation in Seychelles.

The database will be based on PostgreSQL/PostGIS and Open Source Software, tailor-made to be the main source of environmental data for the Department of Environment.

It will store data on sensitive areas, species distribution and location, developments and their environmental impacts, wetlands etc and it shall also be used to ease reporting to the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and conventions that Seychelles is signatory to. 

In a small ceremony held recently at the Department of Environment attended by key stakeholders, Betty Seraphine, the project manager for the Biodiversity Mainstreaming Project at the PCU handed over the equipment and software to Justin Prosper, the principal GIS officer for the Department of Environment in the presence of the GEF Focal Point, Didier Dogley. 

The ceremony was held after a demo presentation of the database by the local company contracted for its development, SPACE 95.

At present the various sections/divisions within the Department of Environment are maintaining small databases, excel spreadsheets or other records (both digital and hard copies) for various environmental data and all these shall be incorporated into the main database once this is completed. 

An assessment of the currently available environment datasets at the Department of Environment, and its affiliating partners, at the environmental NGOs as well as with individual local experts, was undertaken at the earlier stage of the project last year.

NGOs willing to share any environmental data will also be able to have access to the database.

The national environment database will have direct web-link with the geo-database being hosted by the Ministry of Land Use and Housing, also developed with financial assistance from GEF. 

Maps for the sensitive areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty, the wetlands and for species distribution shall be hosted within the MLUH geo-database complete with the relevant GIS layers.  These maps can be accessed via web-link from the environment database.

The whole environment database project (equipment, software and database development) cost approximately $18,000.

The GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit has been quite active in the past few months in undertaking and supporting various activities and initiatives in Seychelles for the protection of the environment and biodiversity. 

The PCU, as it is well known, was set up in 2008 by the government of Seychelles with support from UNDP in order to streamline processes, build capacities and achieve operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the implementation of the various ongoing environment projects and the development of new ones. 

It has a full Seychellois management team, and is responsible for over 75 percent of the overall programme delivery of UNDP projects in Seychelles.

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Southern Indian Ocean Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs), 30 July to 3 August, 2012

The Convention on Biological Diversity is convening an Indian Ocean regional workshop, in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to facilitate the description of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs), which will take place from 30 July to 3 August 2012, in Mauritius.

In decision X/29, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity requested the Executive Secretary to organize a series of regional workshops, with a primary objective to facilitate the description of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas through application of scientific criteria in annex I of decision IX/20 as well as other relevant compatible and complementary nationally and intergovernmentally agreed scientific criteria, as well as the scientific guidance on the identification of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, which meet the scientific criteria in annex I to decision IX/20.

The COP further requested that the Executive Secretary work with Parties and other Governments as well as competent organizations and regional initiatives, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), regional seas conventions and action plans, and, where appropriate, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), in organizing the above regional workshops.

Draft Terms of Reference for the CBD Regional Workshops to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas - EBSAs (paragraph 36, decision X/29)

1. Describe ecologically or biologically significant marine areas through application of the scientific criteria adopted through decision IX/20 and contained in annex I to that decision, as well as other relevant compatible and complementary nationally and intergovernmentally agreed scientific criteria, as well as the scientific guidance on the identification of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, which meet the scientific criteria in annex I to decision IX/20;
2. Collate, review, analyze and synthesize relevant scientific data/information/maps collected through the CBD EBSA repository system called for in decision X/29 (paragraphs 39, 42 and 43), to undertake the above activity in paragraph 1;
3. Collate, review, analyze and synthesize relevant scientific information data/information/maps from other credible, quality-controlled sources, to undertake the above activity in paragraph 1;
4. Compile and produce regional EBSA reports for consideration by SBSTTAs; and
5. The regional workshops will be convened by the Executive Secretary in collaboration with Parties and other Governments as well as competent organizations and regional initiatives, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), regional seas conventions and action plans, and, where appropriate, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), with regards to fisheries management.

For more on this meeting, click here to access the CBD website

Madagascar: Family planning support 'essential' for troubled planet

David Attenborough has said improved access to family planning must be part of long-term conservation efforts to protect our 'troubled planet'.

The distinguished naturalist and broadcaster was responding to the publication of new data from a project which takes an integrated approach to improving public health, gender equality, food security and biodiversity conservation.

The initiative provides reproductive healthcare to a biodiversity-rich area of rural Madagascar where couples were desperate for family planning services. Clinics managed as part of an integrated community conservation and development initiative are now providing access to vital services and education for all women of reproductive age within the region. Local women are now empowered to choose the size and spacing of their family, and thus ensure they can afford to feed them.

Analysis of data collected over three years shows population growth has slowed by one third in some areas, and the proportion of women using contraception has increased four-fold. Calculations show families have been able to prevent more than 355 unwanted pregnancies, and 88 unsafe abortions.

Award-winning marine conservation organisation Blue Ventures started the project four years ago, when more than half of local adolescent women either had children or were pregnant. With an average family size of nearly seven children, parents struggled to adequately feed their children resulting in stunted growth in more than half of children aged under five.

With support from across local communities, Blue Ventures established a network of clinics in the region, providing reproductive healthcare and education to thousands of women.

In a paper published this month in Oryx, the international journal of conservation, Blue Ventures has demonstrated the immediate, practical and long-lasting benefits of recognising the inextricable link between reproductive health and conservation.

Sir David Attenborough has expressed his wholehearted congratulations: "Population growth is clearly one of the main drivers of all our environmental problems. Good family planning support must therefore be an essential part of all long-term solutions."

"It is wonderfully encouraging to see this truth being demonstrated so clearly and successfully. The project is surely a model for everyone working to conserve the natural life-support systems of our troubled planet."

The chair of the environmental charity Population Matters Roger Martin added: "We are delighted at the recognition of a scheme that embodies awareness of the links between growing human numbers and mounting ecological damage."

Dr Vik Mohan from Blue Ventures, explained the thinking behind the project. "Last year the world's population hit seven billion, and globally, 250 million women have no access to family planning services. We've seen first-hand the suffering that this causes, and how families struggle to provide for their growing families against a backdrop of dwindling natural resources and environmental degradation."

"It makes perfect sense to integrate family planning services with conservation efforts in the world's more remote and isolated areas, which are often biodiversity hotspots."

"Access to planning services is a fundamental human right. As a result of the improved access we've been able to offer, we see healthier families, empowered women and more resilient communities."

"In addition, communities have the opportunity to reduce the population growth that undermines their ability to protect the fragile environments upon which they depend."

The project, which has since expanded to provide support to over 40 villages in southern Madagascar with support from The MacArthur Foundation, UNFPA and USAID, also demonstrates that women empowered to take control of their family lives, are more likely to become engaged in conservation activities that protect the future of their children.

A PDF of Blue Ventures' paper "Integrating family planning service provision into community-based marine conservation" will be free to download from Cambridge University Press. 

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UN data could make ocean conservation a Rio+20 issue

Countries have made little progress in meeting their obligations to protect fragile marine ecosystems under the internationalConvention on Biological Diversity, new United Nations data shows.

Just 1.6 percent of the oceans has been set aside for marine protected areas, according to new data provided to The Times by theWorld Conservation Monitoring Center, part of the United Nations Environment Program. That is far below the 10 percent that nations had agreed to set aside by 2020 at a meeting in Japan in October 2010.

The latest data, while disappointing, could help to shape the debate next month at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro. Ocean conservation will be an important topic at the conference, whose two main themes are ”a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication” and an “institutional framework for sustainable development.”

If nations are going to keep their promises and the needs of a booming global population are to be met, the statistics ”point to an urgency of decisive and defining action now rather than in a few years’ time,” said Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program. The world population is expected to expand from seven billion now to nine billion by 2050.

Marine protected areas and other such reserves provide relief to ecosystems threatened by overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and global warming. But creating them is a political challenge; closing an area to activities like fishing and oil exploration can have immediate effects on jobs and investment, even when the longer-term environmental argument is compelling.

Just three-hundredths of 1 percent of the high seas, which make up 61 percent of the world oceans, have so far been set aside, the new data show. Since nations do not actually control that space, they must work cooperatively to assure its protection, and there has been little progress to date.

Among the world’s maritime states, the United States has been relatively aggressive, creating about 1,600 marine protected areas.

One initiative currently under way aims to create what would be the world’s largest network of marine reserves in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Currently, the largest such area is the 210,000-square-mile Chagos Islands marine reserve in the Indian Ocean.

For now, the World Conservation Monitoring Center says, just 4 percent of the marine areas under national jurisdictions (stretching 200 nautical miles from their coasts) are covered. That includes 3.5 percent of nations’ exclusive economic zones, which stretch 12 to 200 nautical miles offshore. The picture is slightly better for coastal waters, those stretching to 12 nautical miles offshore, with about 7.2 percent protected.

A breakdown of 232 marine ecoregions showed that by 2010, only 30 such areas had 10 percent set aside for protection, the 2020 target of the biodiversity convention, while the majority, 137, had less than 1 percent of their area set aside for protection.

”Although the proportion of marine ecoregions that meet the 10 percent target has increased from 3 percent to 13 percent within 20 years, it seems unlikely that the 10 percent target can be met in all ecoregions by 2020,” the World Conservation Monitoring Center said.

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University of Mauritius Research Journal special issue on "Sustainable Marine Environment"

A special issue on "Sustainable Marine Environment" has been published by the University of Mauritius Research journal. This Special Issue is aimed at improving scientific knowledge to promote a sustainable marine environment. It will hopefully foster further knowledge generation in the coming future to inform ‘Maurice Ile Durable’ concept in the Republic of Mauritius.

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Request for Proposals: Developing Regional Minimum Terms and Conditions for Granting Tuna Fishing Access in the Western Indian Ocean

WWF-Coastal East Africa Global Initiative has secured limited funding to develop Regional Minimum Terms and Conditions (MT & C) for granting tuna fishing access in the Western Indian Ocean. This Request for Proposals is to identify expertise and potential contractors to undertake an in-depth review of the current status of tuna fishing accessing arrangements in the WIO range states, develop Minimum Terms and Conditions (MT & C) for granting fishing access in the WIO as well as develop a best practice protocol to be used by WIO countries to secure greater economic returns and enhance fishery sustainability through their fishing access negotiations with the Distant Water Fishing Nations (DWFN).

WWF has played a leading intellectual and facilitation role with both West and East African nations to empower their negotiations with distant water fishing nations to secure the greatest sustainable return from their fishing resources. The landmark publication about model access agreements handbook in 2001 has been followed by a number of regional fisheries access arrangements workshops on the issue in both East and West Africa. Model fisheries access agreements were developed and shared with Mauritius, Kenya and Tanzania. In 2005, WWF organized a regional workshop in Dar Es Salaam to discuss issues related to tuna sustainability and fisheries access agreements. The workshop brought together Directors of Fisheries in the WIO region, development partners including representatives from the World Bank, UN agencies including the FAO. Most recently, in November 2011, WWF and AU-IBAR co-hosted a WIO regional forum for the Directors of Fisheries and workshop on Rights Based Management (RBM) as a fisheries management tool in the WIO. These meetings among many other fora recommended the development of Regional Minimum Terms and Conditions for Access arrangements and that regional countries negotiate Fisheries Partnership Agreements as a block. Similar concerns have been raised in subsequent reports and fora, including the 1st CAMFA (Conference of African Ministers of Fisheries and Aquaculture) that was recently held in Gambia in September 2010)

It is envisaged that the development and adoption of Minimum Terms and Conditions Protocol for the WIO range states anchored in a regional political framework is intended to empower WIO coastal and island states to secure far greater return from particularly their tuna fishery resources, and will contribute to a sound and coordinated tuna management in the WIO ensuring sustainability in addition to profitability.

Current context

WWF CEA is presently conducting a project to evaluate the tuna resources of the WIO including in Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, and Mauritius. These countries have expressed their intention in different fora to have more control on the value of tuna from their respective waters. These countries are also cognisant of the developments in the Parties to the Nauru Agreement as a model to be explored and current protocols could be used where relevant for the WIO (e.g. the regional fisheries access protocol for the Federated States of Micronesia.).

The Scope

The consultancy will focus mainly on the developing coastal and island states in the WIO, namely, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar and South Africa. France (Reunion is the only exceptional). It is possible that this work can be up-scaled to cover the entire developing coastal and island states of the Indian Ocean region.

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Seychelles: World Heritage site management integrated with community development

A workshop organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in collaboration with the Seychelles National Commission for Unesco, seeks to enhance the capacities of Indian Ocean island states (Sids) in integrating World Heritage site management with the sustainable development of local communities.

The four-day gathering, inaugurated by the Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St Ange, was attended by delegates from Unesco Dar es Salaam, Mauritius, Madagascar, Maldives, Comoros, Kenya and Dominica, besides culture, art and tourism officials from Seychelles.

According to Unesco, small island developing states are a special case for environment and development, being ecologically fragile and vulnerable. Their small size, limited resources, geographical dispersion and isolation from markets place them at a disadvantage economically and prevent economies of scale.

However, Unesco views Sids as being among the richest places on earth in terms of ecosystems, pristine landscapes, endemic species, cultural traditions and heritage sites.

Mr St Ange said the workshop represents a golden opportunity to take the Indian Ocean Island Developing States’ concerns to international gatherings or decision makers through Unesco.

He noted that this is the third Unesco workshop this year and this proves the dynamic and successful partnership between Seychelles and the UN organisation.

“Like many Sids, Seychelles is home to a wealth of linguistic and biological diversity.  Nevertheless, as a small island nation, we are at risk, so is our heritage. The last 15 years have witnessed the continued expansion of global threats to which we are particularly vulnerable,” Mr St Ange said.

Mr St Ange said these include climate change, inequalities in trade and finance and the erosion of biological and cultural diversity.

To respond to these growing challenges as small states we must rely on our cultures. 
He noted that Seychelles launched its cultural strategic plan 2011-2015 in April last year as the instrument  that not only promotes culture as a natural asset , but also as one that can deliver wide ranging  public benefits such as economic growth, attracting tourism and providing sustainable foundation for the renewal of local areas, encouraging a sense of citizenship and building community spirit.

“Henceforth, we are now more compelled to take bold steps to make fundamental readjustments that will enable culture to take its rightful place in the sustainable economic development of  Seychelles.”

Mr St Ange said the population is now much more aware of culture and culture issues than before and as a result of that, their expectations have also increased.

Similarly, the level of cultural consciousness and the realisation of the potential of culture to impact positively on programmes in numerous fields, have spread within many organisations.

“As small island developing states, we share similar interests and concerns. Let us avail of the opportunity afforded to us by Unesco to share information, experiences and best practices,” he said.

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South Africa: Durban to Be First African City to Generate Electricity From Sea

The South African eastern port city Durban plans to generate electricity from the sea. The project being driven by Durban municipality and businesses aims to generate electricity by using the famous fast flowing Agulhas current.

The Agulhas current is the Western Boundary Current of the southwestern Indian Ocean, flowing down the east coast of South Africa with the properties of being narrow, swift and strong. It is believed that it is the largest boundary current in the world ocean.

An energy expert in Durban Municipality said the city of Durban uses about 3000 MW at peak power, while the energy potential in the ocean current is limitless.

The project is expected to cost about more than 150 million rands (about 20 million U.S. dollars) in the first stage with the technicians installing the floating generators, which could be powered by the swift current, said the project's main sponsor Durban Investment Promotion Agency (DIPA).

The DIPA said the project is a milestone, "If the ocean current generation is to happen, Durban will become the first African city to generate electricity by the sea."

The agency is evaluating the project's environmental impact on the sea, including death, injury or disruption for mammals, such as whales, dolphins and other sea creatures, the DIPA said.

The DIPA believes the project will promote the sustainable energy developments of the city. "The Agulhas current is one of the most consistent currents in the world, if it could be used to generate electricity, Durban would become an ideal location to start harnessing it. If we can get it right, it has the potential to completely transform the city into a green energy location for investment, "said an official of the Durban energy department.

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