December 2007
Unsustainable &
Illegal Exploitation of African Oceans
The Kilifi Declaration of
Intent, December 2007.
On the 6th and 7th of December 2007 a meeting was held at Kilifi,
Kenya that was attended by civil society organisations from Kenya,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa and
Namibia. The purpose of the meeting, organised by the Institute
for Security Studies, was to discuss the social and environmental
crisis caused by illegal and unsustainable exploitation of marine
resources in Africa’s territorial waters and to explore ways in
which civil society can work together to find practical solutions
to avert this crisis.
As a consequence of
the meeting in Kilifi, we, the representatives of the
organisations listed below, unanimously decided to produce a
declaration of intent.
To this end, we assert that:
• Over-fishing and the
destructive exploitation of marine resources for commercial gain
are
occurring with impunity and at an alarming rate in the territorial
waters of African
countries.
• Over-fishing and the
destructive exploitation of marine resources are severely
threatening
the rights and culture of indigenous fishing communities and
people dependent on marine
and coastal resources to earn a living in many African countries.
• Marine bio-diversity
and critical marine habitats, including coral reefs, are seriously
threatened in many African countries, and as a result the
continent is experiencing
collapsed fish populations, a growing list of endangered species
and fewer intact marine
ecosystems.
• Existing state
capacity and political will at both national and regional levels
are failing to
adequately protect marine resources from illegal and unsustainable
exploitation in many
African countries.
• The governance of
marine resources in many African countries is undermined by a lack
of accountability and transparency.
• Coastal communities
in many African countries are not adequately involved in policy
decisions relating to the exploitation of marine resources, and
these communities are
placed in a marginalised and vulnerable position as a result.
• There is a critical
need for civil society in Africa to help improve the governance of
marine resources and to ensure local development and marine
conservation.
• If the current trend
in over-fishing and marine resource depletion continues unabated
in
Africa, it will lead to severe economic, environmental and social
collapse.
Given this state of affairs, we therefore determine the following:
1. To establish a network of African civil society groups
who will work collectively to
raise awareness nationally, regionally and internationally about
the impacts of overfishing
and the destructive exploitation of marine resources in Africa.
2. That this network will proactively engage governments
and special interest groups,
such as the media, consumer interest groups, the fishing industry
at large, tourism
bodies and other stakeholders in order to find effective solutions
to reduce over-fishing
and the unsustainable exploitation of marine resources.
3. That the work of this network prioritises the needs of
indigenous coastal communities
and strives to ensure that such communities are meaningfully
involved in key
decision-making processes and their views are conveyed at
national, regional and
international levels.
4. That the network and its members commit to take
appropriate and prompt action to
prevent, deter and eradicate over-fishing, illegal fishing and the
rapid depletion of
marine resources and to ensure that African marine resources are
preserved for future
generations.
In recognition for the urgent need to work on these issues, a
further and expanded meeting for concerned civil society
organisations will be held no latter than August 2008. The primary
objective of this meeting will be to formalise the African network
of civil society organisations and agree on the immediate steps to
be taken by this network. It was agreed in Kilifi that the
Institute for Security Studies will be responsible for organising
the next meeting and will also provide a comprehensive stakeholder
survey published prior to this event.
An interim steering committee comprising participants from
Mauritius, Kenya, Seychelles,
Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia has been established to oversee
the completion of the stakeholder survey and provide
recommendations on the purpose and organisation of our next
meeting.
The following people and organisations present this Kilifi
Declaration of Intent:
1. Ali Shebwana Bwana
Kenya Marine Forum, Kenya.
2. Maximino Costumado
Centre for Public Integrity, Mozambique.
3. John Grobler
Independent Journalist, Namibia
4. Rashid Haji
Central Coordinating Committee Mtang'ata Management Area, Tanga
region,
Tanzania.
5. Vassen Kauppaymuthoo
Kalipso, Mauritius
6. Joseph Ferunzi Kayemba
Seafarers Union of Kenya
7. Emmanuel Massawe
Lawyers Environmental Action Team, Tanzania.
8. Shaheen Moolla
Feike, South Africa
9. Fr Ernest Mutua
Catholic Church, Kenya
10. Andrew Mwangura
Seafarers Assistance Programme, Kenya
11. Albert Napier
Apostleship of the Seas, Seychelles
12. Nixon Otieno
Action Aid International, Kenya
13. Ken Opala
African Investigative News Service, Kenya.
14. Carsten Pedersen
Masifundise, South Africa
15. Sibylle Riedmiller
Tanzanian Dynamite Fishing Monitoring Network, Tanzania.
16. André Standing
Institute for Security Studies, South Africa.
17. James Terjanian
International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP),
Kenya.
18. Transparency International, Kenya
19. Paul Tuda
Costal Oceans Research and Development Indian Ocean (CORDIO),
Kenya
20. Jean Tancred Vacher
Indian Ocean Seafarers Welfare Association, Mauritius.
21. Hennie van Vuuren
Institute for Security Studies, South Africa
22. Nico Waldeck
Masifundise, South Africa
23. Lugazo Zuberi
USAID funded Sustainable Environmental Management Through
Mariculture
Activities Project (SEMMA), Tanzania
Further information:
For further information on both the Kilifi Declaration of Intent
and the regional civil society
network, please contact:
Dr. André Standing
Institute for Security Studies
Cape Town office
Tel: +27 21 461 7211
Email:
astanding@issafrica.org