Cleaning up the Western Indian Ocean

UN Chronicle, Sept-Nov, 2004 by Bree Polk-Bauman

Environmental ministers met on 6 July 2004 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, for the Fourth Conference of the Parties to the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region and agreed on a new project aimed to reduce pollution in the Western Indian Ocean. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the three-year $1 l-million project, funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Government of Norway, will improve the safe disposal of wastes, develop wetlands to naturally filter and detoxify sewage, and enhance recycling systems.

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Mangrove forests, coral reefs and seagrass beds flourish in the Western Indian Ocean on the East African Coast. Over 30 million people in the five mainland countries of Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania, and on the islands of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles depend on the Ocean's marine and coastal resources for their food, livelihood and recreation. These environments are vital because they are home to over 11,000 species of plants and animals, including over a fifth of the world's inshore tropical fish, and they provide a nesting ground for approximately 70 per cent of the world's marine turtles.

Land and air pollution, as well as destructive natural forces, have damaging effects on the Western Indian Ocean, which has long been suffering from the discharges of untreated sewage, unplanned urbanization, habitat destruction, over-exploitation of resources and destructive fishing practices. Exhaust emissions from the growing traffic sectors, the custom of using coal and wood for cooking by local people and the fishing industry pollute the air above Western Indian Ocean islands. However, it is the lack of air movement that makes pollution so dangerous, as this in turn ends up contaminating the soil and water, and ultimately threaten tourism. Cyclones are the most visibly damaging natural forces, hitting the coastline an average of ten times a year, demolishing buildings, destroying crops and vegetation, contaminating freshwater supplies and causing swells which flood roads and settlements.

The Conference was also held to meet the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty, providing safe drinking water and reducing hunger in all Member States, as well as the environmental component of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and several treaties of UNEP, including the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, and those relating to the International Maritime Organization.

By Bree Polk-Bauman, for the Chronicle