Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis for the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem

The majority of our planet is covered by water (oceans, rivers, lakes, and groundwater systems). These shared water bodies are a common global resource that provide valuable ecosystem goods and services and support the food security and livelihoods of billions of people. The boundaries of water bodies rarely respect political borders, yet the resources they provide are often managed within national borders. Competing demands and the overuse or abuse of these common resources at the national level is often a source of cross-border tension between neighbouring countries. Developing management strategies and a framework within which countries can collaboratively formulate and implement solutions to address the main threats to these shared resources would help to alleviate such conflicts, reduce poverty and improve sustainability. Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) were first proposed as a possible management unit for promoting regional collaboration in the assessment, monitoring and management of shared coastal and marine resources in the early 1980s. These regions encompass the highly productive and heavily utilised coastal and marine waters of the world, and extend from the river basins, to the seaward reaches of the major ocean currents. The geographical boundary of each LME region is defined using four interlinked ecological criteria (bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically linked populations). Using these criteria instead of political and economic boundaries resulted in the delineation and definition of 64 distinct LMEs, including the Canary Current LME. The LME approach aims to address transboundary issues through the use of science based assessment and monitoring to inform the development of regional ecosystem-based management approaches. The approach is structured around 5-modules which include: (1) productivity; (2) fish and fisheries; (3) pollution and ecosystem health; (4) socio-economics; and (5) governance. Each of the 5-modules has an associated suite of indicators and it is these indicators that provide the basis for measuring and monitoring the status of LMEs, which can then be used to reflect both ecosystem health and management effectiveness results of which are used to identify drivers of change, and to design remedial actions to aid ecosystem recovery when required and promote sustainability. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is an international financial organization that funds projects to benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities. GEF funds projects within six Focal Areas, one of which is International Waters. The GEF International Waters Focal Area was established with the goal of promoting the collaborative management of transboundary water systems and the implementation of policy, legal and institutional reforms and investments that contribute towards the sustainable use and maintenance of the ecosystem services. In the early 1990's the GEF and their associated UN Implementing Agencies at that time (UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank) recognised the potential benefits of LMEs as a means to promote and improve regional collaboration in marine assessment and management and thus GEF began implementing LME projects through the GEF International Waters Focal Area. GEF International Waters has since been supporting countries throughout the world to develop regional governance strategies using the LME approach to help the people living within these regions to maintain and recover the critical ecological goods and services provided by LMEs.In recent years, there has been increased recognition by GEF of the need to develop the capacity of countries to adapt to climate variability and change including coastal climatic variability, sea-level rise, ocean warming, protection of coastal carbon sinks and ecosystem resilience. Particular emphasis is placed on avoiding the loss of “blue forests” through habitat restoration and conservation associated with integrated and ecosystem-based approaches to management of oceanic and coastal ecosystems. A core component of all GEF-funded LME projects is the preparation of a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA). The purpose of a TDA is to present an up to date regional synthesis of the ecosystem status and current threats to the long term sustainability of coastal and marine processes and resources in the region. The relative importance of the immediate and root causes of the problems are assessed with a view to identifying potential preventive and remedial actions. As such, the TDA provides the technical basis for development of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the region. The SAP is a negotiated policy document that should be endorsed at the highest level of all relevant sectors. It establishes clear priorities for action (for example, policy, legal, institutional reforms, or investments) to resolve the priority problems identified in the TDA. The preparation of a SAP should be a highly cooperative and collaborative process among the countries of the region. The Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) project is a multi-country and multi-agency project aimed at institutionalizing cooperative and adaptive management of the Canary Current LME. Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea are full participants in the project activities, while Spain is an active partner in the CCLME Project. The CCLME TDA has been developed by the CCLME project and project partners through an 8-year process of data collection, national and regional reviews, and engagement with stakeholders in the CCLME countries from community to ministerial level. Inputs to the TDA have been developed by the countries through the preparation of national reports, and by regional and technical specialists that have prepared several other reports and from demonstration projects. The specific objectives of the CCLME TDA are to:  Present the current state of knowledge on the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME)  Advocate the importance and value of the CCLME  Identify and prioritize the main challenges and issues facing the CCLME and their root causes  Recommend areas of intervention to improve the state of the CCLME Section 1 of the CCLME TDA introduces the region and presents background information on the CCLME project and partner activities to date. Section 2 summarises the current state of knowledge about the coastal and marine ecosystem, associated living marine resources, socio-econonic situation and governance arrangements within the CCLME.Section 3 discusses the major perceived transboundary problems in the CCLME, including issues related to living marine resources, deterioration in habitats, and the quality of the coastal waters of the CCLME region. This document may be cited as “CCLME 2014. Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis for the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem”.

Peer reviewed