Sao Tomé et Principe submitted its Fourth National Report on Biodiversity to the Commission on Biological Diversity in 2009. At the national level, the Law of Fishing and Fishery Resources and the Law on Aggregates have been prepared, approved and published, which help to protect both marine and coastal national resources.
With a maritime territory ten times larger than its terrestrial area, the São Toméan population relies heavily on marine resources. Its two biggest economic sectors are fishing and tourism, which rely on the quality of marine ecosystems to remain viable. Additionally, fishing contributes more than 80% of animal protein consumed by the population, making marine resources vitally important to the subsistence of the population. However, the São Toméan coastal zone has experienced significant erosion due to sea level rise and the exploitation of beach sand by the construction industry, a result of insufficient environmental management. Dredging sand from the sea has also been pursued to protect beaches from sand exploitation. National fisheries resources have also experienced some degradation due to the lack of resources for the surveillance of territorial waters, which has led to the uncontrolled capture of those resources by foreign fishing companies.
The report "SIDS-focused Green Economy: An Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities" was launched at COP7 of the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region, which took place in Maputo, Mozambique, from 10 to 14 December 2012.
The Contracting Parties of the Nairobi Convention -among which there are SIDS, i.e., Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles- , the Intergovernmental organisations and...
“Islands are the barometers of international environmental policies. The entire world will first witness their success or their failure on our islands.” These words, of James Michel, the President of Seychelles, deserve to be spoken out loud as delegates from small island developing States (SIDS) gear up to defend their interests at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).
SIDS serve as the guardians of a “planet under pressure,” whose point of no return is...
À mon avis, la discussion sur l'économie verte doit être liée au développement durable résultant à la fois d'une réflexion réaliste de la situation actuelle et d'une vision souhaitable du futur. Il devrait avoir un objectif atteignable sur la base d'un accord mutuel et doit répondre à la nécessité de continuer à réduire le fossé entre les pays développés...
