Plans to improve coastline
Publication: Weekend Nation / Extra
Paper Page: 8
Paper Date: Fri, Dec 21, 2001
Byline: Dr Robin Mahon
Last week in Paris, 450 people from around the world gathered to discuss the state of the worlds' coasts and oceans, to explore their potential for sustainable development and to identify the problems and constraints to realising that potential.
The Oceans and Coasts Rio + 10 conference was held at UNESCO organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the University of Delaware. It purpose was to chart the way forward providing recommendations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, next September.
Ocean and coastal issues are likely to become increasingly pressing. More than half the world's population presently lives within 100 km of the coast. By 2025 it is estimated that this will increase to 75 per cent, mostly concentrated in coastal mega-cities, many living in poverty. Over-fishing, marginalisation of small-scale fisheries, coastal erosion and habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity, reduced quality of life and depression of opportunities for sustainable livelihoods from the sea were all flagged as trends that must be urgently addressed. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, noted that in the last 40 years the demand for fish has been growing at twice the rate of population growth. Over 500 million people depend on coral reefs for food and income yet 70 per cent of the reefs worldwide are threatened. Eighty-eight of 126 species of marine mammals are threatened and several are extinct or close to extinction.
Nowhere in the world are coastal and ocean issues more urgent and severe than in tropical developing countries, especially small island developing states. Yet participation in the conference was overwhelmingly from the developed world with Europe, North America and Australia contributing, 67 per cent of participants. The Caribbean region was very poorly represented with only five or six persons. The Caribbean Conservation Association was the only Caribbean NGO present. Other participants were from governments, projects, and UN agencies operating in the region.
The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 produced a flurry of activity throughout the world spawning agreements such as Agenda 21, the Conventions on Biological Diversity and Climate Change and stimulating the Code of Conduct on Responsible Fishing. Now, 10 years later, as the World Summit on Sustainable Development reviews progress in all these areas and charts the way forward for the next decade, it is imperative that Caribbean Region concerns and ideas be included, particularly on matters as important to us as the sea.