Environment and Conservation
The Coastal Governance Index is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, commissioned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and California Environmental Associates. Hilary Steiner and Jimena Serrano were the project managers. The quantitative index underlying this report measures the extent of government regulation and management across 20 key ocean economies to assess the state of play in the environment for effective coastal governance.
Marine industries face a number of risks that necessitate careful analysis prior to making decisions on the siting of operations and facilities. An important emerging regulatory framework on environmental sustainability for business operations is the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 (IFC PS6). Within PS6, identification of biodiversity significance is articulated through the concept of “Critical Habitat”, a definition developed by the IFC and detailed through criteria aligned with those that support internationally accepted biodiversity designations.
Coastal communities in Kenya have adopted the use of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) to conserve fisheries and marine resources and as a way of securing alternative livelihood activities. However, these LMMAs have been established in a somewhat ad hoc manner due to a lack of guidelines for their development and implementation. In this review we sought to determine if there are generic approaches and methods that LMMAs in Kenya have adopted that can be used for developing national guidelines. We also examined challenges and lessons learnt from the various LMMAs on the Kenyan coast.
This dataset displays the extent of our knowledge regarding the distribution of saltmarshes globally, drawing from occurrence data (surveyed and/or remotely sensed). The dataset was developed to provide a baseline inventory of the extent of our knowledge regarding the global distribution of saltmarshes, which are ecosystems located in the intertidal zone of sheltered marine and estuarine coastlines.
This vector layer shows the location marine areas managed at a local level by the coastal communities through collaborative groups, organisations and government representatives who reside or are based within the immediate area.
This Integrated Problem Analysis for Seychelles was conducted between December 2000 and August 2001. The exercise comprised of three phases. Phase 1 commenced with identification of hot spots, sensitive areas and overriding issues. A scaling exercise then prioritised 3 hot spots and 3 sensitive areas, and a scoping exercise that prioritised the relevant issues. Phase 2 focused on an assessment of environmental and social impacts, and Phase 3 on the analysis of causal chains for the three selected issues.
This report presents an assessment of the social and economic importance of three priority activities contributing to physical alteration and destruction of habitats (PADH) within the coastal and marine environments on the well-being of countries in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. These activities include:
