Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem (ASCLME) Project

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Description

The five-year Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) project is centred on the two large marine ecosystems (LMEs) of the western Indian Ocean region. These are the Somali Current LME – which extends from the Comoros Islands and the northern tip of Madagascar up to the horn of Africa – and the Agulhas Current LME which stretches from the northern end of the Mozambique Channel to Cape Agulhas.

The Program Goal is “to ensure the long term sustainability of the living resources of the two Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) through a modular approach to management of the ASLMEs.”

The Project Objective is “to strengthen and sustain the collective capacity of the 9 Western Indian Ocean (WIO) countries to collect and utilize environmental information needed to adaptively manage the ASLMEs”. More specific objectives include:

• To gather new and important information about ocean currents and how they interact with and influence the climate, biodiversity and economies of the western Indian Ocean region;
• To document the environmental threats that are faced by the countries of the region in a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA);
• To develop a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) which sets out a strategy for the countries to collectively deal with transboundary threats;
• To strengthen scientific and management expertise, with a view to introducing an ecosystem approach to managing the living marine resources of the Western Indian Ocean region.

Such Objectives will be reached through four Outcomes: Outcome 1: Key environmental knowledge gaps are filled as necessary to install an ecosystem approach to LME management; Outcome 2: Decision-making tools are in place, to facilitate the synthesis and application of data for LME management; Outcome 3: Foundational capacities are in place to assure the sustainability of assessment and data management activities to be undertaken in the sap implementation phase; Outcome 4: A Comprehensive Public Participation Initiative Enables Stakeholders to Engage in Program activities.

Expected Outcomes

Outcome 1: key ecosystem assessment and management gaps are filled as necessary to install an ecosystem approach to LME management

Outcome 2: Decision-making tools are in place, to facilitate the synthesis and application of data for LME management

Outcome 3: Regional agreement is reached on transboundary priorities and their root causes and a suite of governance reforms and investments to institute a shared ecosystem-based approach to managing the LMES in support of WSSD targets, and foundational capacities are in place for implementation.

Outcome 4: A comprehensive public participation initiative enables stakeholders to engage in programme activities

Achievements: Results and Impact

The project has made rapid adjustments to the changed level of overall project participation on the part of the Africa Coelacanth Ecosystem Project. The ACEP has dramatically reduced its originally planned geographic scope of activities to reflect its reduced funding levels. The ASCLME Project, through newly created sources of co-finance and recruitment of project participants, has largely managed to off-set the reduced ACEP presence. The decision of the Project Director to substantially increase the number of Nansen cruise days in year one of implementation, to forestall likely increased costs in future years due to escalating fuel costs, has yielded significant dividends. These dividends include over $1 million in additional co-finance in 2008 and an expectation of over $5 million for 2009-2011. Further dividends include the significant filling of data and information gaps in the Mozambique Channel, the Mascarene Plateau, and the east coast of Madagascar, and the ship-board training of country based personnel. The first annual periodic review of the project was completed in this PIR period. The periodic review approach is unique to the ASCLMEs project, has been embraced by the PSC as a useful and additional tool in monitoring deliverables, and has yielded a concise and useful snapshop that will enable timely course corrections. Important strides have been made in elevating the profile of the project, especially among policy and political level players in the region. This is due to project recognition that early and high level buy-in at policy and political levels is essential to successful SAP implementation. The emphasis on building early and high level policy and political project buy-in is reflected in the project decision to hire a full-time Policy and Governance Coordinator and a decision on the part of the Project Director to play a direct role in engaging and briefing high level government officials. A further re-focusing of the Project during this PIR period has captured the urgent need to adopt long-term monitoring and early warning mechanisms for ecosystem and climate variability that will assist countries in prioritising their resources toward adaptative responses. This will also assist in meeting MDGs and WSSD PoI goals and had attracted further support and co-funding from a number of sources.

Lessons for Replication

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References

See also

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%DPL-1.7.4-WARNING: No results!

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%DPL-1.7.4-WARNING: No results!

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%DPL-1.7.4-WARNING: No results!

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14. Partnership Interventions for the Implementation of Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for Lake Tanganyika
15. Nile Transboundary Environmental Action Project (NTEAP)
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19. Lake Jipe Conservation Project, Tanzania
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