Establishing Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation
Sustainable management and development
It has been recognised that, at least in the short-term, it is not possible to sustainably manage the entire length of the eastern African marine ecoregion. Efforts still need to be focused on specific areas within the region, but these need to be selected to include the full range of habitats with a view to maintaining ecological function and diversity.
However, the risk exists that even when individual sites are successfully managed and conserved, in 20 or 30 years time we may end up with a few, isolated areas of high biodiversity surrounded by degraded habitats.For the long-term benefit of the people of eastern Africa and the sustained conservation of the marine life upon which they depend, a network of effective, strategically placed marine protected areas is needed. A reduction of the general threats imposed by human activities is, as always, of greatest importance.
An integrated coastal management strategy
This ultimately calls for management of marine protected areas within the context of an integrated coastal management strategy. To establish priorities for biodiversity conservation in the eastern African marine ecoregion, a series of meetings, culminating in Mombasa in April 2001,were convened to:
- Collect and analyse baseline data on the biological, socio-economic, policy, legal and institutional characteristics of the ecoregion;
- Build on approaches consistent with national priorities, and;
- Identify key sites of biodiversity that should be prioritised for their conservation value.
Vision statement
Participants at these meetings included natural and social scientists, as well as other interested parties from all the countries in the ecoregion, except Somalia. The participants at the Mombasa meeting developed a common vision statement to describe what we should be striving for over the long term and agreed that 50 years from now the Eastern African Marine Ecoregion should be...
"A healthy marine and coastal environment that provides sustainable benefits for present and future generations of both local and international communities, who also understand and actively care for its biodiversity and ecological integrity."
