EAST AFRICA: Protecting Endangered Marine Plants and Animals

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Aug 12 1997 (IPS) - A cargo-load of leaking toxic waste docked at Kenya’s port of Mombasa last year after being turned away by Tanzania.

The cargo, weighing more than 30,480 kgs, was also banned from passing through the Suez Canal in the Red Sea by Egypt.

The European-registered ship, with 16 containers of chemical waste, was finally escorted by the Kenyan marine authorities into international waters for the start of its long journey to a disposal site in Britain via the Mozambican port of Beira.

But six hours before the vessel’s departure, a group of Somali leaders here, acting on what they said was a tip-off that the cargo was to be dumped off the Somali coast, warned the ship owners to avoid Somali territorial waters.

The incident reflects the growing awareness among the countries along the shores of the Indian Ocean — D’jibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa — about the dangers of pollution to their marine species.

The animals, as well as the exotic beaches that are dotted along the coast, attract millions of tourists each year, injecting a handsome dose of foreign currency earnings into the coffers of these countries. Some of this money is ploughed back into the industry to promote tourism.

Concerned about the environment in the region, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Tuesday opened a Regional Co- ordinating Unit (RCU) on St. Anne Island in the Indian Ocean Island of Seychelles to tackle serious trans-boundary marine problems.

“The coastal zone from Somalia to Mozambique is home to some 25 million people and we need joint action to tackle serious trans- boundary marine problems such as pollution and the protection of endangered plants and animals. The establishment of this Co- ordinating Unit will greatly assist in this effort,” said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, UNEP’s Executive Director.

The Unit is a direct result of the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern Africa Region.

The Convention, which was adopted by a conference convened by UNEP in June 1985, entered into force on May 1996. With its protocol, it provides a mechanism to address regional concerns such as the protection of wild fauna and flora, and the assessment and control of marine pollution.

Globally, it is estimated that 77 percent of all pollution entering the world’s oceans can be traced to land-based activities.

Emissions into the atmosphere from vehicles and power plants settle onto the land and are washed into the sea by storms, or settle on the sea surface. And, water that runs off the land into streams, rivers and estuaries brings to the marine environment countless toxic chemicals that have been applied to the soil and vegetation further inland, as well as industrial waste.

UNEP hosted the first meeting of a Global Environment Facility- funded project in Nairobi between Jul. 27 and Aug. 1 to facilitate regional dialogue and cooperation on trans-boundary problems in international waters and on agreements like the Global Programme of Action (GPA) to protect the Marine Environment from land-based activities.

“The meeting was important, because it looked at regional issues from the national point of view,” said Richard Congar, the RCU Interim Coordinator. “We need this approach if we are to get a regional perspective and tackle these complicated issues.”

To date, Comoros, Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania have ratified the Nairobi Convention. Madagascar, Mauritius and the European Union (EU) are expected to ratify soon. Also, South Africa has shown some interest in participating, according to Dowdeswell.

She said the contracting parties had agreed to update the Convention to reflect recent environmental agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Law of Sea. The second meeting of the Contracting Parties will be held in the Seychelles in March, 1999.

“The protection of Eastern African marine environment is a shared responsibility,” Dowdeswell said. And she urged governments in the region to play a major role in protecting their environments.