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Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project

Welcome to the ASCLME Project

Over the next five years, the nine countries of the western Indian Ocean region, including Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania, will work together through the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) Project.
Home The ASCLME Project Ecosystem Approach
Ecosystem Approach PDF Print E-mail

An ecosystem is a geographic area that includes all the living organisms (people, plants, animals and micro organisms), their physical surroundings (soil, water and air) and the natural cycles that sustain them. All of these elements are interconnected. Managing any one resource affects the others in the ecosystem.

The ecosystem approach places human needs at the centre of biodiversity management. It aims to manage the ecosystem based on the multiple functions that ecosystems perform and the multiple uses that are made of these functions. The ecosystem approach does not aim for short-term economic gains, but aims to optimise the use of an ecosystem without damaging it.

The ASCLME Project aims to implement an ecosystem approach to management of the LME resources through information-driven governance and policy reforms at the regional level, in partnership with the member countries and other stakeholders. 

 

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“This is the second meeting of the Project Steering Committee and it is a valuable exercise to look back and compare this meeting with the last. In January 2008, David didn’t even have his full team, and although his plans looked good, he had yet to prove himself. Today, it is obvious that he has put together an excellent team that is performing well. And Magnus brings a new dimension to the project. He is someone with strong links to the top decision makers of the region and he is well positioned to convey to them the importance of the Project. Magnus has an excellent grasp of the policy issues and understands the importance of political buy-in.

I also believe that the “add-on” coastal sustainability study will prove to be an advantage in the long run because it will make the Project as a whole more palatable to the decision-makers.
So, yes, the project has made very good progress, and this is best reflected in the successful cruise programme that was instituted last year. The PCU is generating a lot of excitement and enthusiasm and I believe we really are on track now.”

Johann Augustyn, Chief Director of Research, Marine and Coastal Management Branch, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa.
GEF/UNDP Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project
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