With an increasing population growth in the West African region, coupled with human-induced and natural hazards exacerbated by climate change, the balance of economic, social and cultural elements that are in harmony with the environment, is under threat.
... See More + West Africa is rich in cultural capital and socio-economic classes which are all reliant on the sustainable functioning of the environment. Collaboration at local, national and regional scale is essential to respond to a wide range of challenges such as coastal erosion and flooding, overexploitation of natural resources, marine and coastal pollution, rapid urbanization, and unsustainable land use. It is expected that the coastal ecosystems will be further damaged as climate change becomes worse. The loss of economically valuable ecosystems (biodiversity) resources, in addition to, coastal tourist beaches, hotels, fish landing sites and other key areas will undermine local livelihoods, cultural heritages and the national economies. The national, regional and local governments need to promote alternative livelihoods, enforce fishing quotas, regulate coastal activities and promote blue-green infrastructures (mangroves restoration, endemic plants in lagoons, stabilizing plants on dune systems etc). Governments can act to assist its constituents through negotiated agreements and networks that support protected areas with the goal to achieve a balance between economic, social and cultural developments that can co-exist in harmony with the environment.
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The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa has a large bounty that has provided employment for fishermen and women, food for families, astonishing sunsets that have attracted tourists and ports that have carried goods resulting in economic strength for many decades.
... See More + However, changes in global and regional climate are resulting in rising sea levels, reduced fish numbers and coastal ruin amongst other impacts. To compound the situation, West African has 51 percent of the total West African population living on the coast. In addition, due to high population growth and the decreased productivity of agricultural lands in the coastal zones, caused by an increased salinization of the soils, coastal communities are under ever-greater pressure as more people move to the coast that are increasingly dependent on ocean resources for their survival. Attracted by the abundance of the West African ocean the coastal populations continue to grow. With more people living in the coastal areas, there is more stress placed on the fish and animal life through physical disruption and pollution, resulting in the degradation or loss of habitats that have crucial value in ecosystem services and biodiversity.
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This report aims to synthesize the current theory and practice of the blue economy concept to govern economic activity linked to the ocean, and to provide a framework for the Government of Bangladesh to analyze its potential.
... See More + With the peaceful resolution of maritime boundary disputes with its neighbors in 2012 and 2014, the Government has recently defined the ocean space under its jurisdiction and prioritized its use as a key source of future economic growth. The Government has prioritized the use of these spaces as a key source of future growth. However, a number of questions remain in embarking on a policy planning process to achieve Bangladesh’s blue economy aspirations, including measures of the current economic uses of the ocean space, the identification of clear targets for sustainable growth of the use of this space, and a policy pathway to get there. Described as an economic frontier, the term “ocean economy” applies collectively to ocean based industry activities and the assets, goods, and services of marine ecosystems. Ocean ecosystems provide the natural capital inputs that combine with produced and human capital to underpin the ocean economy.The concept of a “blue economy” emerged in 2012 as countries around the world have grappled with the twin trends of accelerating growth in the ocean economy and change in the underlying ecosystems. A “blue economy” aims for a balance between economic opportunities and the environmental limitations of using the ocean to generate wealth. Few documents exist to describe how countries can transition their ocean economies toward a blue economy, despite much discussion since 2012. This report fills that gap by offering a conceptual framework to guide policy-makers in Bangladesh in proposing specific reforms, by illustrating the economic activities of the ocean economy together with the underlying natural capital, as well as other types of capital. The framework suggests entry points for policy reforms to change the flow of inputs from ocean ecosystems to the ocean economy over time, or conversely to reduce outputs from economic activity (such as pollution) that may impact the functioning of ocean ecosystems. The report also synthesizes principles that may help guide such policy reforms. Most importantly, the report summarizes the information base needed for the Government of Bangladesh to set realistic targets for a blue economy development pathway and monitor progress.
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The Marine Debris Hotspot Rapid Assessment for Indonesia was conducted by the World Bank at the request of relevant Indonesia government agencies and research institutions, to provide an informed and focused analysis of land-based leakage of solid waste, particularly plastics, to the marine environment.
... See More + The assessment was a rapid study carried out in two phases, providing up-to-date information from 15 cities in western and central parts of Indonesia. The assessment aimed to support Indonesia`s response to the growing crisis of plastics and debris in the country`s and world`s oceans.
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The Marine Debris Hotspot Rapid Assessment for Indonesia was conducted by the World Bank at the request of relevant Indonesia government agencies and research institutions, to provide an informed and focused analysis of land-based leakage of solid waste, particularly plastics, to the marine environment.
... See More + The assessment was a rapid study carried out in two phases, providing up-to-date information from 15 cities in western and central parts of Indonesia. The assessment aimed to support Indonesia`s response to the growing crisis of plastics and debris in the country`s and world`s oceans.
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West African coasts are rich in natural resources therefore itis no surprise that coastal communities have for generationslived off the land and the sea taking advantage of theseabundant natural resources for health, food and economicactivities.
... See More + The coastal ecosystems such as mangroves,provide important breeding grounds for fish and themineral deposits that have helped to build the thrivingcoastal cities, trade, commerce and economic developmentin the area. However, this once abundant land is underthreat from Climate Change, a rising sea level, beacherosion, etc. Human activities are also affecting thefunctioning and integrity of the environment, the watersupplies, agriculture, fishing, mangroves and the availablebeach areas that the tourists flock to visit. This all directlyimpacts on the health of families in the community andpotentially the family income, a healthy environment cancontrol itself and can help coastal communities to copewith any changes in climatic conditions. Local people andcommunities can take action to preserve the coastal andmarine environments to ensure the environment continuesto function well into the future.
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The development objective of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) Strategic Ecosystem Management Global Environment Facility (GEF) Project for Middle East and North Africa is to improve management of marine resources in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in selected MPAs building on resource protection and incentive systems for communities and the harmonization of the knowledge base of marine resources among PERSGA member countries.
... See More + The restructuring presents extension of closing date to 31 December, 2018 to: (i) allow more time for five livelihoods subprojects to be completed and run for some time to have their benefits demonstrated to the community before closing of the project; (ii) assess implementation of the marine protected areas management plans developed by the project in order to demonstrate effectiveness; and (iii) allow for more time for environmental and socioeconomic monitoring activities to be well established and operational in Djibouti.
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Would improvements in port performance increase trade in countries on the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans? Previous studies attempted to answer this question using ad hoc measures of port efficiency that do not control for the actual use of port assets or measures that can be very noisy.
... See More + To avoid these problems, this paper builds a measure of economic efficiency based on the use of port inputs to deliver port output. Using data envelop analysis, it ranks countries on the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans in terms of their port efficiency, and assesses the effect of increased efficiency. It finds that becoming as efficient as the country with the most efficient port sector would reduce their average maritime transport costs by up to 14 percent and increase their exports by up to 2.2 percent.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8204 SEP 25, 2017
The development objective of the Caribbean Regional Oceanscape Project for Organization of Eastern Caribbean States is to strengthen capacity for ocean governance and coastal and marine geospatial planning in the participating countries.
... See More + The project comprises of three components. The first component, strengthening ocean governance objective is to strengthen ocean governance through: (a) development of coastal and marine spatial plans (CMSP) and associated training, and (b) development of national ocean strategies and policies for participating countries and enhanced alignment of Eastern Caribbean regional ocean policy (ECROP) with the 2030 development agenda and recent multilateral environment agreements (MEAs). The second component, strengthening knowledge and capacity objective is to strengthen knowledge and capacity of citizens and institutions for ocean governance. The third component, project management, monitoring, and assessment objective is to ensure effective project implementation, monitoring of activities, and final project evaluation.
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This is a background paper to the Pacific Possible report. Technological progress has given rise to increased interest in deep sea minerals. This report takes stock of existing policy, legal and fiscal arrangements supporting DSM decision making and the regulatory and institutional capacities necessary to assure positive outcomes.
... See More + As such, the report summarizes the knowns and unknowns characterizing the current state of DSM, frames the need to apply the precautionary approach given information uncertainty, and identifies professional and institutional capacity building needs. Given the significant uncertainties and weak institutional capacity in the countries of the Region, the report recommends the precautionary approach to DSM, which among others includes the option of no development if the risks are found to be larger than the benefits. It also recommends that regional regulatory collaboration takes place in a way that is respectful of sovereignty considerations.
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