Climate Change
The Regional Ocean Governance Strategy (ROGS) support team formed a task force of 24 experts to enhance the development of the ROGS. Representatives from organizations such as the Nairobi Convention, African Union, and Indian Ocean Commission are included in the task force. The team has conducted participatory technical dialogues and information sessions to co-develop the strategy. The four main clusters of focus are maritime security, blue economy, environment and natural resources, and knowledge management and capacity building.
A leadership workshop took place in Mombasa, Kenya, for senior leaders, officials, and policymakers in marine policy and ocean governance. The workshop, held from 27 to 29 May 2024, included 40 participants from ten countries in the region and staff from the Nairobi Convention Secretariat. The unique challenges of having a diverse mix of participants turned out to be a major benefit for building practical skills. The emphasis was on learning through repeated practice and receiving feedback.
The Nairobi Convention parties in the Western Indian Ocean are developing a Regional Ocean Governance Strategy (ROGS) to address maritime security, the blue economy, environment, and knowledge management. A Task Force of 24 members has been working on this since May 2022, engaging in technical dialogues to improve social, economic, and environmental challenges. The draft Strategy will be presented at COP 11 in August 2024 for possible adoption, with implementation planned from 2025 to 2028.
The overall objective of this project is to develop specific spatial data products at regional scale, for the coastal and/or marine areas of all the western Indian Ocean countries, including South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Comoros, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius and France. This report summarizes the data products, which have been prepared, on the basis of their relevance to the Large Marine Ecosystems (LME’s). The preparation of these data products involved retrieval from various sources, spatial analysis and modelling, and scaling.
The purpose of the Critical Habitats Outlook will be to support Governments of the WIO region to establish a baseline for Sustainable Development Goal 14.2 which seeks “to sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including strengthening their resilience and to take action for their restoration, to achieve healthy and productive oceans by 2020”.
Coral reefs are a great environmental asset for Mauritius. Directly and indirectly, they yield benefits for the community.
Read about the benefits and the work of a new project that is working to rehabilitate Mauritius’ precious coral reefs, and more.