Cooperation with the Western Indian Ocean
SwAM cooperates with the Western Indian Ocean, both regionally and with single countries. We collaborate on marine management, marine spatial planning and environmental assessments.
We mainly cooperate with the Nairobi Convention and with IOC-Africa.
- Nairobi Convention has all the ten countries of the region as contracting parties, and deals with the protection, management, and development of the coastal and marine environment of the Eastern Africa region. It sorts under the UN Environment Programme.
- IOC-Africa covers the whole African continent and is a sub-commission of the IOC-UNESCO, the UN's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Exchanges on marine planning
Several countries in the Western Indian Ocean and East Africa are doing marine spatial planning, as is Sweden. We exchange experiences about how to do marine spatial planning, environmental assessments and regional cooperation between countries.
Tool for cumulative environmental assessment published
The ten countries in the region together with the Nairobi Convention and SwAM have co-developed a tool that supports ecosystem-based marine planning through cumulative environmental assessment. The tool is called WIO Symphony.
Learn about the WIO Symphony tool
Increasing Kenya's capacity to assess cumulative impact
Thruout 2026 and 2027, the Symphony Kenya project is a joint project by KMFRI and us at SwAM to build both capacity and a tool for cumulative impact assessment for Kenya marine spatial planning.
The project will give Kenya the capacity to assess cumulative impact on the environment and test various ways of using the ocean. The outputs will be useful to marine spatial planners and marine managers.
The Kenyan part is made possible thanks to the Strengthening Blue Food Systems in Shimoni and Vanga project, a NORAD-funded Kenya-Norway 2025-2028 bilateral programme.
Visit the Symphony Kenya page.
Addressing poverty and gender in marine spatial planning
We have created a guide that helps planners address both poverty and gender equality in marine spatial planning.
The guide is based on a framework, a report and three field studies. We produced the report together with IOC-Unesco and IOC-Africa.
- Try the step-by-step Guide: Address poverty and gender in marine spatial planning
