Ministerial Conference on
Environment and Development
in Asia and the Pacific 2000
Kitakyushu, Japan 31 August - 5 September 2000
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The Strategic Action Programme for International Waters “Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) of the Pacific Small Island Developing States,” proposed by 14 independent Pacific Island Countries, funded by the Global Environment Facility, and administered by SPREP. Priority Concerns:
Solutions:
ICWM Activity Areas:
OFM Activity Areas:
Target Actions:
The SAP will be carried out in two complementary contexts; Integrated Coastal and Watershed Management (ICWM) and Oceanic Fisheries Management (OFM). ICWM actions will focus on freshwater supplies, including groundwater, Marine Protected Area (MPA) enhancement and development, sustainable coastal fisheries, integrated coastal management including tourism development, and activities to demonstrate waste reduction strategies. The OFM component will target the Western Pacific Warm Pool ecosystem that includes the islands and EEZ of the participating nations. The SAP is founded on International agreements. Perhaps the key treaty for the Pacific is the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entered into force in 1994. of the 14 independent PICs, 9 are full parties to UNCLOS, and 4 are signatories. UNCLOS has two supplements, the deep seabed mining and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. UNCLOS is founded on the idea that, “the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole.” This holistic approach is consistent with the Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) of the Pacific Small Island Developing States. SAP also relies on a number of other International agreements, including The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), and the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity (1995), the Whaling Convention, the World Heritage Convention, CITES, the Wetlands or Ramsar Convention and the Migratory Species or Bonn Convention. Regional conventions for SAP include the Forum Fisheries Convention, the Wellington or Driftnet Convention, the Apia Convention, the Noumea or SPREP Convention and the Niue Treaty. The Noumea Convention is implemented through the SPREP Action Plan approved by the Heads of Government at annual SPREP meetings. SPREP’s development of SAP began in 1995 to integrate national and regional sustainable development priorities with global environmental concerns for International Waters. It will include: (i) integrated conservation and sustainable management of coastal resources, including fresh water resources; (ii) integrated conservation and sustainable management of oceanic resources; (iii) prevention of pollution through the integrated management of land- or marine-based wastes; (iv) monitoring and analysis of shore and near-shore environments to determine vulnerability to environmental degradation. Consultations and development of the SAP required 3 years. It was endorsed by the Pacific Islands Forum in September 1997. The SAP incorporates the SPREP Action Plan 1997-2000, the SOE and NEMS of the member nations, the draft Regional Strategy for Development Priorities of the Forum Island Countries, the Action Strategy for Nature Conservation in the South Pacific Region, the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, The Report to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development on Activities to Implement the Barbados Programme of Action in the Pacific Region (1996) and the 1992 Report to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) “The Pacific Way.” The SAP lists priority concerns as: (i) Pollution of marine and freshwater (including groundwater) from land-based activities; (ii) issues related to the long term sustainable use of marine and freshwater resources; (iii) physical, ecological and hydrological modifications of critical habitats; (iv) unsustainable exploitation of living and non-living resources, particularly, although not exclusively, the unsustainable and/or inefficient exploitation of coastal and ocean fishery resources. Note that issue ii is a prime concern and the others are elaborations of that concern. During preparation of the SAP the root causes of the primary concerns were examined and “the ultimate root cause” was identified as deficiencies in management. But, of course, the ultimate root cause was the end of the story. Why are there deficiencies in management? The SAP study goes on to say that underlying the deficiencies in management was “the need for mechanisms to integrate environmental concerns, development planning and decision-making.” And this, was linked with “the need to achieve island-wide ecosystem awareness through improved education and participation.” The analysis then proceeds still further into the causes by identifying a series of sub-sets of causes now preventing the integration of environmental concerns as “a lack of strategic information presented in an appropriate manner to decision-makers, resource users, managers and communities to evaluate costs and benefits of, and decide among, alternative activities. (Making informed choices). The SAP solution is to improve information input and exchange at the regional, national, and local levels. The SAP will also intervene with donors to coordinate regional and national development assistance. SAP will facilitate the choice and design of high priority interventions, remove duplication, and ensure that projects do not work at cross-purposes. Funding from GEF will support SPREP’s efforts to “organize and leverage additional assistance in order to achieve maximum benefit from available funds.” SAP will be, ”a framework for overall national and regional planning and assistance for the management of International Waters.” Four high priority development issues are identified for immediate intervention: improved waste management, better water quality, sustainable fisheries and effective marine protected areas. Targeted action will include five areas; (i) management, (ii) capacity building, (iii) awareness/education, (iv) research/information for decision-making, and (v) investment. SPREP will be the sole agent responsible for the planning and overall management of project activities. A number of activities will, however, be linked to and integrated with those of FFA and SPC and these two organizations will be sub-contracted by SPREP to implement project activities within their areas of competence. SPREP will be responsible for reporting, accounting, monitoring and evaluation of the project together with UNDP. Note that SOPAC is not included in the project, although their areas of expertise include all aspects of fresh water, sewage, power, mapping and surveying, and geology. The expected outcome will be “a series of pilot projects in the area of integrated coastal and watershed management will have demonstrated best practices and appropriate methodologies for sustainable management of freshwater resources, management of Marine Protected Areas, and sustainable management of coastal zone fisheries.” The project will also ensure the sustainable harvesting of the oceanic fish stocks. The project will build capacity of the participating countries to develop and implement regional fisheries management programmes and agreements. Note that the original objectives of SPREP dating back to the 1980’s were to steer the countries toward,
A decade later, the three year, GEF funded SAP proposal preparation – after examining the critical concerns and the root causes in their, “legal, institutional, socio-economic and environmental context” discovered the root cause to be:
The important point is that SPREP added “decision making” and “participation” to their strategic plan and this may make a difference for on-the-ground action |
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