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(Forimmediaterelease.net) Climate change, over-fishing, pollution, unsustainable development, and coastal degradation are just a few of the problems facing governments throughout the Western Indian Ocean region. These problems threaten the coastal and marine resources of the Western Indian Ocean region, which contributes more than US$22 billion per year to the GDPs of the countries.

A Policy Advisory meeting is being organized at Le Meridien Barbarons Hotel to deliberate on these challenges that threaten the large marine ecosystem. The overall objective will be for countries to discuss and negotiate the structure and aims of a Strategic Action Program (SAP). The SAP set out a long-term commitment to sustainable management mechanisms through the large marine ecosystem approach - an approach which recognizes the unique challenges facing each country and the region as a whole, and seeks workable solutions that address failures in conventional management methods and optimizes where opportunities exist.

The two-day session will try to address these concerns through improved institutional arrangements, stronger coordination, strengthened partnerships, and more effective use of scientific evidence in the decision-making process, taking into consideration the causes of environmental degradation.

Participants of the meeting are from Comoros, Reunion (France), Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania. The meeting will be held from Monday, August 13 to Wednesday, August 15, 2012. The session is being organized by the UNDP/GEF Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project (ASCLME) and the World Bank/GEF South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP).

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