News

Catalysing Ocean Finance

james.stapley@asclme.org (James Stapley) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:40:33 +0000

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched the book "CATALYSING OCEAN FINANCE" on 14th December 2012 in Washington D.C. Drawing on 20 years of research and experience, Catalysing Ocean Finance demonstrates in two volumes how a modest investment of public finance, in the order of $5 billion over the next 10-20 years, can scale up proven ocean planning and policy tools, leverage financial flows, transform ocean markets, and reverse the global decline in ocean health. This book demonstrates that, far from being an intractable problem, sustainable ocean management could become a successful legacy of today's generation of decision-makers.

To illustrate the application of market transformation instruments to promote sustainable coastal and marine resource development, the book features six case studies, drawn from the portfolio of International Waters projects financially supported by the GEF and implemented by UNDP in 31 of the world’s most important trans¬boundary marine and freshwater ecosystems.. These six are: (i) Black Sea and the Danube River Basin; (ii) Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem; (iii) Rio de la Plata and its Maritime Front; (iv) Seas of East Asia; (v) West and Central Pacific Fisheries; and (vi) Global Ballast Water Programme.

The world's oceans are known to provide trillions of dollars in goods and services every year; however, many ocean ecosystems are in steep decline because of pollution, overexploitation, habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change. Without concerted near-term effort, the damage may become irreversible and consequently reverse the progress made so far in achieving sustainable development.

Although not included in the book as case studies, in Africa, UNDP supports most of coastal states in sub-Saharan Africa whose economy and development depend upon fisheries and other marine resources. UNDP-GEF supports the following four (out of five) Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) along the African continent: Agulhas and Somali Current LMEs, Benguela Current LME, and Guinea Current LME. Strategic Action Programmes developed for each of those African LMEs will 1) promote key policy reforms, 2) strengthen joint management of the marine resources, and 3) catalyse and direct investments from both public and private. The next set of case studies for Catalyzing Ocean Finance will most likely be developed from the LMEs in Africa.

Members of the ASCLME Project are strongly encouraged to download the two volumes and consider how the "lessons learned" can be applied to implementing the joint ASCLME/SWIOFP Strategic Action Programme, and particularly, how long term sustainable partnerships can leverage continued support for SAP Implementation, both during a GEF-funded SAP Implementation Project and far beyond.

The electronic version can be downloaded from the GEF website here. An overview of the book was given at the 6th Project Steering Committee Meeting in February 2013; the PDF of that presentation is available here.

ASCLME Reports Published

james.stapley@asclme.org (James Stapley) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:18:38 +0000

Over 180 ASCLME reports have been made available through this link: http://www.asclme.org/reports2013/. They will also be made available through the ASCLME Data and Information pages.

For a detailed overview of the documents, please read the Contents document.

Several distinct "categories" of reports are presented:

TDA - Pre-print final proof; also includes 10 appendices.
TDA Supporting Documents - SWIOFP developed reports are available from here.
Coastal Livelihoods Assessments
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Cruise Reports - may still have tracked changes although can be considered "final" versions.
National MEDAs - Draft national MEDAs, pending final country acceptance.
Policy and Governance Reports

It should be noted that some of these documents are still "working drafts", most notably in the MEDA appendices, and should be read as such.

Joint ASCLME/SWIOFP TDA to be published

james.stapley@asclme.org (James Stapley) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:48:32 +0000

The joint ASCLME and SWIOF Project Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) has been published in electronic proof form. Once finalised (within the next month) it will be printed in hard-copy and distributed and also made available in electronic format.

The TDA is the culmination of years of work at country and regional level, collating existing information, noting country-level threats and challenges to the marine and coastal environment through the MEDAs (Marine Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis) and through a rigorous Causal Chain Analysis and workshop process.

Formally entitled "Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Large Marine Ecosystems of the western Indian Ocean", the TDA is presented in two volumes. Volume One is the Baseline, which provides an overview of the entire TDA, defines the ASCLME Management Boundary and gives the baseline status of the environment, socio-economics and livelihoods, a Cost-Benefit Analysis, Marine Pollution and Management, Policy and Governance. Volume Two presents the Diagnostic Analysis, which prioritises the Main Areas of Concern (MACs) identified; provides details on the MACs; summarises the regional proximal and root causes responsible for driving the Main Areas of Concern and finally provides References for both volumes.

This document has gone on to provide credible information to inform the Strategic Action Programme, which aims to set out the long-term objectives to address the concerns outlined in the TDA, along with the required policy, institutional and management actions needed to address these challenges and ensure sustainable livelihoods and support economic development throughout the region.

The proof electronic versions are available from the following links: Volume 1: Baseline (front cover) Volume 2: Diagnostic Analysis (front cover).