A Coast in Common: An Introduction to the Eastern African Action Plan

Abstract

The coastline of Eastern Africa is an area of great physical beauty, rich in living resources. Palm fringed beaches of white coral sand lead down to tranquil lagoons enclosed by spectacular coral reefs with their wealth of colourful fish, shells and corals. The area has vast mangrove forests, high coral cliffs, wide stretches of sand dunes, and numerous offshore and oceanic islands. Yet there are problems in paradise-pollution, habitat destruction, and the pressures of growing populations and tourism. To face these common threats to their marine environment, the nine nations of the region are now working together to manage their shared resources and to find regional solutions to their problems. They are doing this under the auspices of the Eastern African Region, one of the newest of the Regional Seas Programmes initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme. The region encompasses four mainland countries extending from Somalia in the Horn of Africa, through Kenya and Tanzania to Mozambique in the south, and island nations that include the Seychelles, an archipelago of over 100 islands, the Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, and the Malagasy Republic. Together, they have 12,000 kilometres of coastline, and a rapidly growing populationofabout55 million. This booklet describes their ecosystems and resources and the problems they face, which are the challenges to be faced by the Eastern African Regional Seas Programme.