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The Nairobi Convention provides a mechanism for regional cooperation, coordination and collaborative actions, and enables the Contracting Parties to harness resources and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders and interest groups towards solving interlinked problems of the coastal and marine environment.
The Nairobi Convention area extends from Somalia in the North to the Republic of South Africa, covering 10 States, five of which are island States in the Western Indian Ocean. The Contracting Parties are Comoros, France (La Reunion), Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and the Republic of South Africa.
Marine and coastal environments, and the goods and services they provide are under increasing pressure from unsustainable consumption and production patterns as well as ineffective management practices in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Some coastal urban hotspots are densely populated and rapidly industrializing. Those hotspots are facing a multitude of problems stemming from unplanned and unregulated land use patterns worsened by poor regulatory regimes. Coastal tourism is an important industry in Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania and the Republic of South Africa. At the same time, there is an interest in exploring and exploiting potential oil and gas reserves, which could further exacerbate the destruction of critical habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, beaches and sea grass meadows.
The East African Action Plan was adopted in 1985 and came into force in 1986. It has by now been ratified by all ten Eastern African countries.
The Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region was also adopted in 1985 and came into force in 1996. The Eastern African Regional coordinating Unit, (EAF/RCU) in Seychelles, formally adopted in 1997 the latest link in a consolidated approach to the protection of the marine environment of the region.
Associated protocols concern: Protected Areas and Wild Fauna & Flora (adopted 1985, in force 1996), Marine Pollution (adopted 1985, in force 1996).
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Recognizing the environmental uniqueness of the coastal and marine environment of the region, the threats and the necessity for action, the countries of the Western Indian Ocean region requested UNEP to create a regional seas programme for the region. UNEP's Governing Council decision 8/13C of 29 April 1980 created the Eastern African Regional Seas Programme and further requested UNEP to assist the Governments of the region to formulate and implement a programme for the proper management and conservation of marine and coastal resources. More...
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