Managing The Marine And Coastal Environment Of Sub Suharan Africa

The trends toward social change and ecosystem degradation are affecting coastal and marine areas around the world, not least in Sub-Saharan Africa. This report outlines the challenges facing this region and describes the World Bank's strategy for supporting sustainable development. It emphasises that an integrated approach to coastal management is required which provides both traditional investment in fisheries and coastal biodiversity, and creative investment policies in infrastructure projects which will bring tangible benefits to coastal populations and ecosystems.

The trends toward ecosystem degradation and social change are affecting coastal areas around the world, not least in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crisis affecting this region's coastal and marine areas requires an urgent and resolute response from the global community. This report details the challenges facing coastal and marine environments in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the World Bank's strategy for supporting sustainable development in the sector, while stressing an integrated approach to coastal management in Sub-Saharan Africa, which will be strategic in design, with both traditional investments in fisheries, or coastal biodiversity, and creative interventions for making large-scale investments in infrastructure, or water "coastal friendly", to avert impacts, while bringing tangible benefits to coastal populations, and ecosystems.

The blue economy, comprising coastal and marine resources, offers vast benefits for sub-Saharan Africa: of the 53 countries and territories in the region, 32 are coastal states; there are 13 million sq km of maritime zones; more than 90% of the region’s exports and imports come by sea; and the African Union hails the blue economy as the ‘new frontier of African renaissance’. Despite their importance, the region’s coastal and marine resources have been neither fully appreciated nor fully utilized. They are only now being recognized as being key to Africa’s potential prosperity. As the region grows, it has, in general, not taken adequate safeguards to protect these valuable resources. That is partly because some of the problems (pollution, for example) are regional and know no borders. All too often, short-term gains are made at the expense of the long term (overfishing, for example). This book provides, for the first time, a study of the constraints and opportunities the blue economy offers for sub-Saharan Africa. It includes an introduction and overview; sectoral analyses (including tourism, fisheries, mineral resources, culture, shipping and maritime safety); country case studies; and analyses of regional and international efforts towards better coastal zone and marine management.

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.