ASCLME - Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project - ASCLME - Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project

  • ASCLMEs Programme

    The ASCLME project is part of a multi-project, multi-agency programme - The Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme (ASCLMEs) - which aims to institutionalise cooperative management of the two LMEs. The ASCLMEs Programme is implemented in a phased way, so that a knowledge base is built progressively and technical and management capabilities are strengthened at the regional scale so as to address transboundary environmental concerns.
    The Programme’s overall objectives are:

    • to acquire sufficient baseline data to support an ecosystem-based approach to the management of the two LMEs;
    • to produce a TDA and SAP for both the Agulhas Current and the Somali Current LMEs.

    Fishermen with Dhow and nets, Tanga, Tanzania. Image courtesy Lucy Scott

    The overall ASCLMEs Programme comprises the ASCLME Project (IW:LEARN), the SWIOF Project and the WIO-LaB Project.

    SWIOFP and ASCLME produced a joint TDA and SAP; WIO-LaB finished before the other two and produced their own TDA and SAP.

    The ASCLME Project SAP Implementation Phase Project is the Western Indian Ocean Strategic Action Programme Policy Harmonisation and Institutional Reforms Project (WIO-SAPPHIRE). (IW:LEARN)

    The WIO-LaB Project's SAP Implementation Phase Project is WIOSAP.

    SWIOFP has yet to move to a SAP Implementation Phase; some "continuity" activities are foreseen in the WIO-SAPPHIRE Project (IW:LEARN).

  • WIO-LaB

    The WIO-LaB project (Addressing Land Based Activities in the Western Indian Ocean) addresses the degradation of the marine and coastal environment as a result of land-based activities in the western Indian Ocean region. It aims to:

    • reduce stress to the ecosystem by improving water and sediment quality
    • strengthen the legal basis for preventing land-based sources of pollution
    • develop regional capacity and strengthen institutions and thereby encourage sustainable, less polluting development

    WIO-LaB is a partnership between the countries of the western Indian Ocean region, the Norwegian government, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility. It is designed to serve as a demonstration project for the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.


    The project involves South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.