Neighbours to sign Benguela convention

NAMIBIA, Angola and South Africa are expected to sign a convention which will form the joint management and policy framework of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME), the first of its kind in the world, later this year.

In September 2010 the Benguela Current Commission (BCC) announced the completion of a draft convention for a multi-sectoral inter-governmental ocean governance framework.This was after the governments of Namibia, Angola and South Africa had in 2001 endorsed a strategic action programme which highlights key policy and management actions for the sustainable development of the BCLME.Among these policy and management actions was the establishment of the BCC and a legally binding convention.The draft convention was reviewed in October and December 2010, February 2011 and in January 2012 by sector and legal experts from the three countries.Last year Nico Willemse, senior project manager at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and head of the BCLME Strategic Action Programme Implementation Project, said no significant changes were made to the draft convention, and that it is probably ‘the world’s most contemporary draft ocean governance tool’.It was hoped that the convention would have been signed by the three countries by December last year, but Willemse recently said that the biggest delay has been the national internal review processes of the draft convention by the three countries.According to Willemse, this process is now almost complete, adding that the BCC received comments regarding the draft convention in the last quarter of 2011, but none of these were substantive.’It’s only about dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, and ensuring that the convention is in line with national and international norms and standards on multilateral agreements,’ Willemse said.Willemse said the BCC aims to have the convention signed in Benguela, Angola by the end of this year, and Fisheries Minister Bernard Esau may ratify the convention on behalf of Namibia.’The signing of the convention is anticipated globally, with international organisations such as the United Nations, the Global Environment Facility, World Bank and the European Union keeping a close eye,’ Willemse said.Willemse is of the belief that the convention is one of the first ocean governance tools that incorporates a wide range of sectors as it caters for development as well as conservation. Similar mechanisms are often slanted heavily towards conservation, and Willemse believes that the convention has taken one step further by emphasising a holistic and integrated approach.The BCC has noted some changes in the marine environment related to climate change, such as an increase in the abundance of jellyfish which in turn affects the available oxygen in the seawater.Willemse said the Benguela Current is one of the most dynamic and productive marine ecosystems in the world, which makes it challenging to make any long-term inferences from periodic changes without more conclusive evidence. BCC greatly assists the three countries to improve the current knowledge and understanding of the Benguela Current to inform joint management as per the convention.

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