GEF-Western Indian Ocean Marine Highway Development and Coastal and Marine Contamination Prevention

The project's medium to long-term global environmental goals are to reduce the risk of ship-based environmental contamination (such as oil spills from groundings and illegal discharges of ballast and bilge waters) and to strengthen the capacity of countries to respond to oil or chemical spill emergencies in the region. The project has three specific global environmental objectives. The first is to ascertain the economic, technical, and institutional feasibility of introducing modern aids to navigation systems in the region, such as an electronically supported marine highway, to guide ships through sensitive areas and to encourage monitoring of the movements and activities of fishing and other vessels operating within countries' territorial waters. The second objective is to support widening the existing regional agreement (June 5, 1998) on port state control and implementation of its provisions. The third objective, focusing on Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania, is to reduce risks of environmental damage to beaches, fishing grounds, and other domestic resources from spills of oil and chemicals. This will be achieved by supporting efforts of Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania to become part of a regional oil spill response plan, by completing the identification and mapping of environmentally sensitive areas along coasts and sea lanes, and support regional collaboration with the west Indian Ocean island states.