Eastern African Marine Ecoregion

International Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss

Macro-economic policies
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are among the international financial institutions influencing economic activities and policies in the countries of the EAME, aiming at boosting economic development and increased growth. The economy of most of the countries in the EAME is based on natural resources. Reductions in the size of the public sector in order to meet requirements of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) have resulted in retrenchment of public sector employees adversely affecting monitoring and enforcement of existing policies. In some places, the reduction in enforcement has led to increases in illegal natural resource exploitation (e.g. increases in illegal mangrove harvests in Rufiji and Bagamoyo areas of Tanzania). In Kenya, commitment to a SAP has resulted in a reduction in protection of national industries and an increase in trade through lifting of quotas. The combined effect has resulted in a collapse of some national manufacturing industries and an increase in unemployment accompanied by an increase in direct exploitation of natural resources including marine fisheries and mangroves for livelihoods.

Foreign markets and trade
Demands for fish and crustaceans from European, Asian and South African markets have led to intense exploitation of fish resources within the EAME. Governments of Europe and Japan have negotiated with the governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique for the exploitation of fisheries resources, in exchange for economic assistance for research in the fisheries sector.

Effects of climate change and river discharges
Changes to the coastlines caused by human activity have exacerbated the effects of climate change. Sea level is rising at about 1 millimetre per year, which, under normal circumstances, habitats can adapt to, but the loss of coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests adds to the potential damage caused by sea level rise. The result can be catastrophic, particularly to low-lying islands and sections of the coast. Already the loss of coastal land due to erosion is an ever-growing concern to developers and farmers.

Climate change has also been associated with the increase in prevalence and intensity of global weather anomalies, including El Niño. In 1997-98 the EAME experienced a massive impact of an El Niño event that caused coral bleaching resulting in between 70%-99% coral mortality on some reefs (Linden & Sporrong, 1999; Wilkinson et al. 1999).

The many large rivers along the coast of the ecoregion carry vital nutrients and sediments that are important to mangroves and seagrass beds. These rivers connect the shoreline with the interior of the continent of Africa thus activities hundreds of kilometres up-stream can influence the coastal zone. During periods of severe rain, poor agricultural practices can increase the loads of sediment washed out to sea which in turn can have serious detrimental effects on nearby coral reefs that require clear waters for their existence.

Of all the threats described above, climate change is clearly outside the scope of local management and will depend on the resolve and collective advocacy of all affected states, although adaptation of measures for ecosystem management may be feasible locally. The ecoregion approach, through focused collaboration on international advocacy, could contribute to reduce the causes and better address the impacts of climate change. It is hoped that that ecoregion approach will foster regional (and international) collaboration to address not only climate change issues but many of the economic, institutional, legal and social root causes that contribute to degradation of biodiversity in the EAME. Cooperation through sharing of experiences in addressing such root causes is especially valuable.