Introduction to Integrated Coastal Area Management

6. Global non-government and non-profit organizations and their role in ICAM

Integrated coastal area management (ICAM) is a process that should ideally be a government-driven process linking private sector forces with public resources and voluntary action by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities in order to produce a mutually acceptable policy. The role of NGOs can vary from those who initiate the process, as in the case of the Dominican Republic, to those who come on board because of new integrated coastal management policies produced by government. Irrespective of the manner in which coastal area management gets initiated, it needs government input in order for it to be integrated (Jorge 1997).

The importance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) cannot be overstressed. These organizations not only does invaluable work at grassroots level, but also play an important role at the international level. The involvement of NGOs reached a highpoint at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), when the UN organizers of the official conference actively sought by NGO participation. The United Nations (UN) looked pass their traditional and established consultative system, with its screening processes and criteria, which allowed hundreds of organizations not previously associated with the UN to make their voices heard. The NGO role in implementing the objectives of the conference was also given important emphasis in the agenda adopted at Rio (Rice and Ritchie 1995, Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).

The United Nations (UN) has elevated the position of NGOs because (i) they can provide expert knowledge and advice which are important in decision-making and implementation processes, (ii) they present the views of constituencies who are not adequately represented by national delegations, (iii) they are major channels for dissemination of information, (iv) they can build support for UN programs through educational activities or by raising funds, and (v) in some cases the UN designates NGOs as executing agencies for UN funded projects (Rice and Ritchie 1995, Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).

6.1. Greenpeace

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. This organization was started in 1971 by a small group of concerned individuals who sailed an aging fishing vessel to Amchitka Island in protest to US nuclear weapons testing in that area. Greenpeace has since grown, since their first expedition, into an international organization with national and regional offices in over 25 countries, with its international headquarters located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Greenpeace 1999).

The first expedition highlights the bond Greenpeace has with the oceans. They have since started many campaigns to protect the oceans and its resources, for example, opposing pirate fishing and plundering of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, opposing the illegal destruction of mangrove forests by the shrimp aquaculture industry in Latin America, eliminating the use of driftnets from the global fishing fleet, assessing the effects of the global fishing fleet on global fish stocks, and opposing whaling (Greenpeace 1999).

6.2. International Ocean Institute (IOI)

The International Ocean Institute (IOI) was founded in 1972 by Professor Elisabeth Mann Borgese as an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization headquartered at the University of Malta. IOI was created to promote education, capacity-building, and research as a means to enhance the peaceful and sustainable use and management of ocean and coastal spaces and their resources (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, IOI 1999).

IOI has more than two decades of experience in addressing ocean and coastal issues. Their approach is interdisciplinary and comprehensive which ensures that informed decisions are made to guarantee the sustainability of projects and resources. IOI’s role in ICAM can be seen by looking at the specific focus of each of its Operational Centres and Affiliates:

(1)IOI-Canada (Dalhousie University) - the Law of the Sea, oceanography, environmentally and socially sustainable development, coastal area management, and ocean policy development,

(2)IOI-China (National Marine Data and Information Service, State Oceanic Administration) - sea-bed mining, and international marine data information management,

(3)IOI-Costa Rica (Universidad Nacional) - regional cooperation in science, technology and peaceful uses of navies,

(4)IOI-Pacific Islands (University of the South Pacific, Fiji) - regional cooperation in fisheries, distance learning, potential for joint surveillance and enforcement, regional denuclearization, and small island development,

(5)IOI-India (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India) - technology development, ocean energy, management of technology, establishment of science and technology infrastructure,

(6)IOI-Japan (Yokohama City University) - regional cooperation in science and technology,

(7)IOI-Malta (University of Malta) - North-South cooperation in enclosed seas, small island problems, and desalination,

(8)IOI-Black Sea (Black Sea University Foundation, Romania)

(9)IOI-Senegal (Centre de Recherches Oceanographiques de Dakar – Thiroye) - oceans, food, technology development, and human resource development concerns,

(10)IOI-Southern Africa (University of Western Cape) - sustainable livelihoods, seaweed mariculture and community development as well as technology in support of training;

(11)IOI-Eastern Africa (Kenya Marine & Fisheries Research Institute, Kenya) – mangrove conservation, distance learning and technology (IOI 1999, 2000).

Overall all IOI’s activities can be divided into 9 categories, namely (i) training, (ii) development, (iii) information dissemination, (iv) organization, (v) research, (vi) education, (vii) technology, (viii) publication, and (ix) services. IOI is involved with the training of hundreds of decision-makers and professionals, mainly from developing countries, through short and long duration interdisciplinary courses in ocean and coastal management. It is also involved in development work among coastal communities with the objective of improving their livelihood while restoring and preserving coastal ecology. It also disseminates information to NGOs and coastal communities through its global network. IOI also organizes an annual “Pacem in Maribus (Peace in the Oceans) Conference and other Seminars and Workshops. IOI also does research on a variety of ocean-related areas such as international and regional agreement and policies on oceans and the coastal area; on regional and sub-regional co-operation and on scientific and technological approaches to sustainable management of living and nonliving marine resources. IOI also has an education and awareness-creation about ocean resources, marine and coastal environments, and the need to care for them. It also has technology evaluation, transfer, and evaluation of the effects thereof. It publishes the Ocean Yearbook in collaboration with the Dalhousie University, Canada, and also has a newsletter called Across the Oceans, , as well as directories of experts, funding opportunities, and potential clients for IOI services. Regional operational centres also publish their own newsletters, research papers and reports. IOI services include advice, consultancy, and information regarding ocean and coastal environments (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, IOI 1999).

IOI have also prepared working papers for the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III: 1973-1981), the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority, and for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (1982-1994) as well as for various governments. It has provided consultants to UNEP, the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC) (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, IOI 1999).

6.3. Train-Sea-Coast

Train-Sea-Coast was founded in 1993 by ten academic institutions from nine countries (Brazil, Costa Rica, Fiji, India, the Philippines, Senegal, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) which then joined into a network that is now coordinated by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea UNDAOLOS. This program enjoys support from the United Nations Development Programme’s Science, Technology and Private Sector Division (UNDP/STAPS) and other UN and non-UN organizations. Train-Sea-Coast provides a coordinated global ocean and coastal management training program in response to Agenda 21 (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).

Currently, there are 14 Train-Sea-Coast institutions (Table below), which are developing ocean and coastal management courses. This coordination will ensure that a wide range of topics will be covered with minimal duplication. All of the courses are also designed using a common methodology, which ensures uniformity. Once courses are completed, it is made available to all members of the Train-Sea-Coast program. The table below shows the course developing units and the focus of their course(s).

Train-Sea-Coast started its first training workshop on January 23, 1995. This workshop taught course developers the common methodology to be used by Train-Sea-Coast (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998).

6.4. Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)

The Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), is a non-governmental and non-profit regional organization for promoting the educational, scientific and technological development of all aspects of marine sciences throughout the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. The Association gathers and disseminates marine science information; it holds all types of meetings to foster marine science development and information exchange; and enhances better communication among the marine scientists and other professionals involved in the advancement of marine science research and development on the WIO region (WIOMSA 1999).

The Association was officially inaugurated in December 1991 on Inhaca Island, Maputo, Mozambique during a regional workshop on “Lagoon ecosystem”. The workshop was attended by scientists from Somalia, Kenya Mauritius, Mozambique, and Tanzania; and also scientists from outside the region (Sweden and Australia).

The Association was supported and endorsed by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Regional Committee for Cooperative Investigation in the North and central Western Indian Ocean (IOCINCWIO) during its Third Session held in Mauritius in December 1992. Collaboration and cooperation between the Association and the Committee are achieved through a liaison officer to be nominated by the Committee (WIOMSA 1999).

WIOMSA is governed by a board of officers elected every three years at a General Meeting. The Secretariat of the association is hosted by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam located on Zanzibar, Tanzania (WIOMSA 1999).

The objectives of the Association are:

to promote and advance the education, scientific and technological development in all aspects of marine sciences in the western Indian Ocean region.
to provide a forum for discussion and dissemination of information and organize meetings, seminars and workshops for the presentation of findings and experiences on subjects related to marine sciences;
to encourage the support of marine sciences research, development and educational activities undertaken by governments and private sectors;
to collect and disseminate scientific, technical and other relevant information marine sciences;
to promote and foster inter-institutional linkages within and outside the region with a view to sustained use, conservation and preservation of the marine resources of the WIO region (WIOMSA 1999).

WIOMSA actively participates in the building of marine science and technological capability of the WIO region by focusing on the following activities:

improving the communication among the scientific community of WIO member states;
assisting in the development of institutional linkages within the region;
defining and developing research into problems which may require national and/or regional approach to their solution;
identifying workable mechanisms for the coordination of marine science research and development within the WIO region;
strengthening the awareness of marine sciences research and its importance in the development and management of the marine sector of WIO member states (WIOMSA 1999).