Cooperation with the Western Indian Ocean
Our agency cooperate with four countries in the Western Indian Ocean region, namely Kenya, Seychelles, Mauritius and South Africa. We collaborate on marine management and marine spatial planning. We collaborate mainly in contexts where the region's developing countries also participate.
This cooperation is to a large extent done together with the Nairobi Convention, in which all ten countries of the region are members. The Nairobi Convention deals with the protection, management, and development of the coastal and marine environment of the Eastern Africa region, sorting under UN Environment.
We also work together with IOC-Africa, a sub-commission of the IOC-UNESCO which is the UN's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Exchanges on marine planning
Several countries in the Western Indian Ocean and East Africa have started their marine spatial planning, and Sweden has its first ever plans in place.
We exchange experiences about how to do marine spatial planning, useful tools and regional cooperation between countries.
Developing a tool for ecosystem-based marine spatial planning
We are developing a tool for ecosystem-based marine planning and cumulative environmental assessment, called WIO Symphony, together with the ten countries in the region and the Nairobi Convention.
Representatives from the countries ensure that the tool is based on the countries’ needs. They also contribute data and quality checks of national data. More than 30 other experts from authorities and academia in these countries and from Sweden participate.
Read about the WIO Symphony tool.
In addition to the above, we have a more extensive cooperation with South Africa on oceans and water.
