Human dimensions of coastal management in the Western Indian Ocean region

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Ocean & Coastal Management 47 (2004) 299–307

0964-5691/$ -

doi:10.1016/j

1The WIO

Tanzania) an

www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

Editorial

Human dimensions of coastal management in theWestern Indian Ocean region

1. Introduction

This article outlines the progress and key lessons from implementing theintegrated coastal management (ICM) approach in the Western Indian Ocean(WIO) region1 (Fig. 1), drawing from and introducing the articles included in thisspecial issue. This special issue includes articles presented during the Third

WIOMSA Scientific Symposium. Advances in Marine Science in Eastern Africa:

Multi/Trans-disciplinary Research for Improved Management of Resources, held inMaputo, Mozambique in October 2003. The symposium brought together expertswith social and natural sciences backgrounds. It provided an excellent vehicle for theexchange of ideas and realistic examination of the current state of knowledge ofcoastal and marine resources and their management in the WIO region.From the 1980s, coastal management in the WIO region has seen a shift from a

sectoral approach towards an integrated one: from the protection of species and theenvironment to sustainable development of coastal communities and their resources;and from central government-controlled initiatives to field-based projects, some ofwhich are managed by non-governmental organizations and local communities. Inthis transformation, the welfare of coastal communities has become an integral partof many coastal management initiatives in the region. The articles presented in thisspecial issue consider different perspectives of the human dimensions of coastalmanagement in the WIO region. Together they illustrate that sound scientificresearch (including local ecological knowledge) and deliberative public participation(including national and local government, scientists, non-governmental organiza-tions, private sector, and coastal communities) are essential to the success of anycoastal management initiative.

see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

.ocecoaman.2004.08.002

region is comprised of five coastal states (Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and

d five island states (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, and Seychelles).

www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

ARTICLE IN PRESS

ComorosSeychelles

Mauritius

Mayotte

R union

Somalia

Kenya

Tanzania

Mozambique

South Africa

N

Fig. 1. The western Indian Ocean region.

Editorial / Ocean & Coastal Management 47 (2004) 299–307300

2. Why ICM?

The coastal and marine environment of the WIO region is characterized by a richmosaic of mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, major estuaries and deltas, andsandy beaches. These coastal ecosystems are ecologically and economically valuable,providing for the livelihood for local communities, and contributing to differentextents to the WIO countries’ economies.However, the coastal and marine environment is increasingly being subjected to a

wide range of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The natural processes includecoral bleaching and floods, while anthropogenic activities include destructive orimproper fishing methods, over-fishing, pollution, coral mining, and the indis-criminate cutting of mangrove forests and their conversion to other uses. Thesedisturbances are exacerbated by rapidly increasing coastal populations, widespreadpoverty that in turn promotes the unsustainable use of coastal resources, poorlyplanned economic development; under-resourced government institutions; and weakimplementation of existing policies and laws.

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Editorial / Ocean & Coastal Management 47 (2004) 299–307 301

Coastal areas comprise 20% of the world’s land surface, but host over half of thehuman population. By the year 2030, three-quarters of the world’s peoples areexpected to be living in coastal areas [1]. Some 40 million people inhabit the coastalareas of the WIO region, and certain areas, such as Mombasa (Kenya), Dar esSalaam (Tanzania), Maputo (Mozambique), and Durban (South Africa), as well asmost of the islands, are very densely populated, with several hundred persons persquare kilometre. Thirty percent of South Africa’s population [3], 34% ofMozambique’s, and 25% of Tanzania’s is coastal [2]. On the other hand, thereexist large tracts, such as Somalia’s coastline, that are virtually uninhabited. Thisheterogeneous distribution causes the overall population density in the WIO region’scoastal areas to appear average [2].The number of people living along the coast in the WIO region is projected to

continue its upward trend. The health and well-being of those who depend primarilyon coastal resources for their livelihood will be at risk as pressures on naturalresources mount.These trends underscore the importance of establishing and implementing ICM

programmes to guide development opportunities that improve people’s quality of lifeand sustain economic activities, while at the same time maintaining the quality,integrity, productivity, and diversity of the coastal environment. It is for this reasonthat the countries of the region have initiated different forms of coastal managementinitiatives, all aimed at striking a balance between environmental protection andeconomic development along the increasingly stressed coastlines of the region.

3. The evolution of ICM in the WIO region

In the earlier years, coastal management projects in the WIO region were usuallyissue-based (e.g. coastal erosion) or sector-based (e.g. fisheries), and rarely attemptedto deal with comprehensive planning of the entire coastal zone [4]. ICM wasintroduced in the mid- to late-1990s as an alternative to the fragmented and sector-based system that prevailed in the past—and to a large extent continues todominate—the governance of WIO’s coastal areas. Of recent, however, thegovernments in the WIO region, through various regional and internationalprocesses and conventions, have committed themselves to the implementation ofICM as an effective mechanism for addressing and resolving the multiplicity of issuesexperienced in coastal areas.The ICM approach is considered to be an important and effective tool for

implementing the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Similarly,ICM has received recognition from other global instruments such as the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the GlobalProgramme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA). The approach has also received strong support from otherUnited Nations agencies and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, theGlobal Environment Facility (GEF), and the European Union. With the adoption ofthe Nairobi Convention in 1985, coastal management initiatives in the WIO region

ARTICLE IN PRESS


have been deliberated at a number of regional conventions and ministerial meetings[5,6]. Taken together, these initiatives constitute a regional platform for coastalmanagement that does not exist in regions such as Latin America. Regionalprocesses and organizations support coastal management activities at the nationaland local level in many ways, such as:

�
advocating for policies that promote and enhance integrated planning andmanagement of coastal areas;
�
attracting international donor investment in coastal management; � strengthening management capacity of government agencies and NGOs foreffective coastal management;
�
encouraging countries to implement and follow established regulations andguidelines for resource exploitation and management;
�
promoting public education and awareness programmes to create constituency forcoastal management; and
�
promulgating new approaches to ecosystem management.
All the mainland countries have in place coastal management programmes at thelocal level. Initiated since the mid-1990s, the local programmes address a wide spanof issues, including those related to:

�
resource-use conflicts; � pollution of coastal waters; � degradation and destruction of critical coastal habitats leading to resourcedepletion;
�
inadequate capacity to plan, implement, and enforce sound managementpractices;
�
weak institutions; and � insufficient coordination of activities and sharing of experiences and resources.
In their article Collaborative coastal management improves coral reefs and fisheries

in Tanga, Tanzania, Verheij et al. analyse the experiences of one of the oldest coastalmanagement programmes in East Africa—Tanga Coastal Zone Conservation andDevelopment Programme (TCZCDP). The authors describe the development andimpact of 8 years of collaborative coastal management in the three coastal districtsof the Tanga Region. TCZCDP was established to address problems such as over-fishing, coral reef degradation caused by dynamite fishing, small mesh-nets, beachseining, and coral mining for construction purposes [7]. The paper also describes thecollaborative fishery management areas, which include reefs that are closedperiodically to fishing.Along with the evolution of ICM, the number of MPAs in the WIO region has

increased over the last 10 years. Their management regimes vary greatly, rangingfrom the government-run systems in Kenya to essentially community-run ones, suchas Mafia Island and Mnazi Bay marine parks in Tanzania and Moheli Marine Parkin Comoros, to those that are managed by the private sector, like Chumbe Island

ARTICLE IN PRESS


Coral Park, or by non-governmental organizations, like Cousin Island Marine Parkin the Seychelles [8].In the article Evaluating a marine protected area in a developing country: Mafia

Island Marine Park, Tanzania, by Kamukuru et al., MPA performance, using theMafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania, as an example, is evaluated. The articleprovides further insight into the growing weight of evidence for the fishery benefits ofMPAs.Some eastern African countries, e.g. South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and

Kenya, have programmes to address coastal issues at the national level. South Africawas the first country to adopt a national ICM policy in 1999. Tanzania was not farbehind, with the country’s coastal strategy being adopted by the Cabinet inDecember 2002. In Kenya, a national-level ICM process has just begun, with localpilot activities feeding into the national-level policy making. At present,Mozambique has no national policy for coastal management, but has prepared adesk study about coastal management from a national perspective. National-levelICM programmes are necessary, as pilot projects often stay focused on a specificarea, failing to include other parts of the coastal zone. National programmes canalso serve as a hub and center for information exchange between local programmes.In their article Building enabling conditions for integrated coastal management at the

national scale in Tanzania, Torell et al. discuss how Tanzania has established thenecessary enabling conditions for ICM at the national scale.Most rural coastal communities in the WIO region are located in marginal areas.

They rely on natural resources for their livelihood, depending mainly on subsistencefarming, forestry, artisanal fishing, small-scale business, and informal employment.With population increase and new ethnic compositions due to migration andcompetition from external actors, coastal and marine resources are increasinglybeing put under pressure. New livelihood opportunities have often not beenadequately developed to cope with the changing scenario, and people have resortedto increasingly environmentally damaging techniques to cater for their needs. Theresult is that the coastal poor are becoming trapped in a vicious circle where povertygenerates environmental problems and vice versa.In order to design governance systems capable of creating societal and ecological

sustainability, it is essential to understand the interactions and interdependence ofcoastal communities and their environment. This special issue presents two examplesof such analysis. In Links between humans and seagrasses—An example from tropical

East Africa, de la Torre-Castro and Ronnback analyse the interactions betweenhumans and seagrasses in a rural tropical settlement on the East Coast of Zanzibar(Chwaka village). The village benefits greatly from goods and services provided byseagrasses. For instance, seagrass-associated fish form the primary source of animalprotein for the villagers of Chwaka. Seagrasses also provide a wide range of socialand cultural services, including the aesthetical, spiritual, and religious.The article Changing fisheries practices and their socioeconomic implications in

South Coast, Kenya by Ochiewo discusses the factors influencing fish harvesting incoastal villages in Kenya, by characterizing stakeholders and assessing the changesthat have occurred in local fishing practices and their socio-economic impacts. This

ARTICLE IN PRESS


paper demonstrates that in the absence of efficient regulatory mechanisms, marinefishery, owing to its nature as an open access resource, often provides a refuge of lastresort for impoverished coastal dwellers.

4. Lessons learned

Over the past two decades, the countries of the WIO region have demonstratedcommitment and political will to address the problems and challenges facing theircoastal and marine environment, and experience from the implementation ofnational and local ICM initiatives provides a number of useful lessons.

i)
Integrating resources management and community development. There is aninternational consensus that for resources management to be truly sustainable,the livelihoods of poor people must be secure and poverty reduced. At the 2002World Summit on Sustainable Development, governments around the globedeclared that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge today, and anindispensable requirement for sustainable development. Despite significanteconomic growth in recent years, most rural coastal communities are very poorand depend on common property natural resources—the sea, intertidal marinesystems, and forests—for livelihood. While ICM programmes cannot be expectedto do it all (poverty reduction, social justice, sustainable development), they alsocannot simply disengage from the social and political context and leave the socialand development work to others. Income generation and poverty reduction inrural coastal communities form an important component of ICM. Indeed, it hasbeen found that promoting income-generating activities as part of community-based coastal management improves community interest and participation, andimproves the likelihood of success [9].
ii)
Incorporating local ecological knowledge into ICM planning. Local communities,particularly fisherfolk, know much more about their environment than they arecredited for. For example, fisherfolk of Chwaka in Zanzibar have a wealth ofknowledge about the importance of seagrasses for fish production, thedifferences between species, their distribution and abundance, seasonality, andthe associated fauna and functions of seagrasses (de la Torre-Castro andRonnback, this issue). Furthermore, Tobisson et al. [10] found that fisherfolk ofChwaka village have extensive knowledge on lunar/tidal effects and theirrelationships with the availability of fish, and apply this knowledge to makeoptimal use of the resources. The integration of such knowledge into planningand implementation of coastal management programmes is essential for ICMsuccess.
iii)
Involving stakeholders and building partnerships. There are three arguments formaking public participation part of environmental decision-making [11]. First,participation ensures that local knowledge and experiences are integrated intothe planning and management process, giving a better guarantee for the qualityand reliability of the solutions identified [12,13]. Second, a non-participatory

ARTICLE IN PRESS


decision-making process is against democratic ideals [11]; stakeholders are thebest judges of their own interests and therefore they should be able to participatein decisions that affect them. Third, participation in decisions makes them morelegitimate; the perceived fairness and process used has an impact on how satisfiedpeople feel with a decision, despite its outcome [14]. In this special issue, theimportance of participation is illustrated in the articles by Verheij et al. andTorell et al.

iv)
Integrating science into resource management. Coastal management in the WIOregion must take into account the dynamics and diversity of natural and socialsystems and development processes. Problem solving and decision-making forcomplex natural and human ecological systems are complicated by the multipleresource and development issues involved and the way in which they areinterwoven. The most pervasive feature of the challenge is the uncertaintyassociated with the web of cause and effect that governs system behaviour inresponse to management intervention. Research can contribute to coastalmanagement through assisting in the formulation, assessment, and validation ofissue identifications. Scientists not only bring technical knowledge, but also thecapacity to build systematic and reliable ways of analysing and interpretinginformation. Scientific research can, for example, be a source of reliable andreplicable information about socio-economic linkages to the coastal environ-ment. An example of such research is Costs of Ecosystem Restoration on Islands
in Seychelles by Kerstin Henri (this issue), which provides details of the costs ofrestoration of small islands ecosystems based on available scientific information.

An example of a regional effort to promote sound and applied science for coastalmanagement in the WIO region is the Marine Science for Management (MASMA)programme, which provides funding and technical support for coastal and marineresearch, training, and communication. Funded by the Swedish international aidagency Sida, the programme is coordinated by the Western Indian Ocean MarineScience Association (WIOMSA: http://www.wiomsa.org). MASMA seeks tostrengthen applied and interdisciplinary research in the natural and social scienceaspects of coastal environmental issues, for the purpose of advancing knowledge thatis directly relevant to key coastal and marine resource challenges in the WIO region:food security, environmental sustainability, and the enhancement of livelihoods andthe well-being of the coastal peoples, particularly the poor. Through MASMA,WIOMSA organizes a bi-annual symposium to share research findings that havebeen generated by scientists involved in the programme. The Maputo Symposiumwas the latest of these symposia—during which most of the articles in this specialissue were presented.Coastal managers and scientists in the WIO region recognize the potentials availed

by coastal and marine resources for reducing poverty and improving the livelihoodsof coastal communities. However, the challenge is to ensure that, in pursuingeconomic opportunities, the integrity of the coastal and marine environment is notcompromised. We hope that decision-makers, managers, researchers, and otherstakeholders will find that the information presented in this Special Issue deepens

http://www.wiomsa.org

ARTICLE IN PRESS


their understanding of the human dimensions of coastal management in the WIOregion.

Acknowledgements

The support of the following organizations and institutions to the organizationof the Third WIOMSA Scientific Symposium in October 2003 in Mozambiqueis gratefully acknowledged: Sida/SAREC for their support to the Marine Sciencefor Management (MASMA) research grant programme; Sida/SAREC BilateralMarine Science Programme between Sweden and Tanzania; WWF-Eastern AfricanMarine Ecoregion (EAME) Programme; United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP); Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland; Coral ReefDegradation in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO), Coastal Management ResearchCentre (COMREC); and Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. We alsoacknowledge all the reviewers of the articles in this issue for their valuable commentsand criticisms.

References

[1] Hinrichsen D. Coastal waters of the world Trends, threats and strategies. Washington, DC: Island

Press; 1998 275pp.

[2] Richmond MD, editor. A field guide to the seashores of eastern Africa and the western Indian Ocean

islands. Italy: Eurolitho, Milano; Sida-SAREC-UDSM; 2002. 461pp.

[3] Hatziolos M, Lundin CG, Alm A. Africa. A framework for integrated coastal zone management.

Washington, DC: The World Bank; 1996 (150pp +12 maps).

[4] The World Bank. 1993. The Noordwijk guidelines for integrated coastal zone management.

Paper read at World Coast Conference 1993, Noordwijk, 1–5 November 1993, The Netherlands.

28pp.

[5] Linden O, editor. 1995. Workshop and policy conference on integrated coastal zone management in

East Africa including the Island States. Coastal Management Centre, Manila. Conf. Proc. 1. 371.

[6] Linden O, Lundin CG, editors. The journey from Arusha to Seychelles. Successes and failures of

integrated coastal zone management in Eastern Africa and Island States. Proceedings of the second

policy conference on integrated coastal zone management in Eastern Africa and Island States.

Seychelles, 23–25 October 1996. Sweden: Graphic Systems AB. World Bank/Sida SAREC, 1997.

298pp.

[7] The Coastal Resources of Tanga Region, Tanzania. Cambridge, UK: International Union for

Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN); 1987. 49pp.

[8] Francis J, Nilsson A, Waruinge D. Marine protected areas in eastern African Region: how successful

are they? Ambio 2002;XXXI(7–8):503–11.

[9] Tobey J, Torell E, Yolanda L, Mwaipopo R, Mkenda A, Ngazy Z, Mbarouk F. MPAs and poverty

alleviation: An empirical study of 24 coastal villages on mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar: Draft

report prepared for the World Bank; 2003. 98pp.

[10] Tobisson E, Andersson J, Ngazy Z, Rydberg L, Cederlof U. Tides, monsoons and seabed: local

knowledge and practice in Chwaka Bay, Zanzibar. Ambio 1998;XXVII(8):677–85.

[11] Fiorino DJ. Citizen participation and environmental risk: a survey of institutional mechanisms.

Science, Technology, and Human Values 1990;15(2):226–43.

[12] Berkes F. Sacred ecology, Traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. Philadelphia:

Taylor and Francis; 1999 209pp.

ARTICLE IN PRESS


[13] Lee KN. Compass and gyroscope, Integrating science and politics for the environment. Washington,

DC: Island Press; 1993 243pp.

[14] Lawrence RL, Steven ED, Stankey GH. Procedural justice and public involvement in natural

resource decision making. Society and Natural Resources 1997;10:577–89.

Julius FrancisWestern Indian Ocean Marine Science

Association (WIOMSA), P.O. Box 3298 Zanzibar, Tanzania

Elin TorellURI Coastal Resources Center, 220 South Ferry Road,

Narragansett, RI 02881, USA

Documents

Human dimensions of coastal management in the Western Indian Ocean region