The Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project is up and running
Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem
Over the next five years, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand will work together through the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project and lay the foundations for a coordinated programme of action designed to improve the lives of the coastal populations through improved regional management of the Bay of Bengal environment and its fisheries.
The eight countries involved in the project are some of the most populous in the world. Over 400 million people live in the Bay of Bengal area and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Most of these people are poor and rely heavily on the marine resources which are being affected by overfishing, removal or degradation of important marine habitats, and pollution.
The BOBLME Project is funded principally by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Norway, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the USA with a total estimated budget of $USD 31 million. FAO is the executing agency.
For more information: contact the Regional Coordinator on
chris.obrien@boblme.org or the Chief Technical Adviser on
rudolf.hermes@boblme.orgThe BOBLME Communications Strategy is launched
At its meeting in March, the BOBLME Project Steering Committee adopted a Communications Strategy that aims to build a Project profile and encourage a sense of ownership for the Project among stakeholders in the eight participating countries; promote BOBLME as a major source of information and advice; communicate the results and progress of the project to stakeholders; and importantly, communicate Project results and lessons learnt to coastal communities. The Communications Strategy describes a range of implementing strategies, activities and tools. One of the major tasks in 2010 will be to set up of media liaison outlets in each Project country that will convey the Project messages in appropriate languages, and actively seek communication opportunities.
Click here for a copy of the Communications Strategy.
CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR THE PROVISION OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
We are looking for an individual or company to take a leading role in the implementation of the Communications Strategy over the next four years. Interested individuals or companies should send a CV or company profile together with a covering letter outlining your professional competence to the Regional Coordinator Dr Chris O’Brien on chris.obrien@fao.org by 24 May 2010. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. For more information
click here.
BOBLME Fisheries Statistics Working Group to meet in April in Bangkok
Harmonization and standardization of fisheries data collection and analysis to promote collaborative fisheries management approaches are major activities under the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project Component 2 dealing with “Coastal and Marine Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Use”. This initiative is in support of national and regional strengthening of fisheries data systems that will facilitate and provide for better resources assessment and improved decision making for fisheries management and policy drafting in the BOBLME countries.
A Fisheries Statistics Working Group will be formed during a meeting from 28-29 April, and, in the first instance, discuss current constraints faced in the production and update of national statistics. This group will also identify country needs with respect to harmonised data collection, exchange, storage and management and agree on a workplan to address these.
For the meeting documents:
click here BOBLME Project Steering Committee
BOBLME Project Steering Committee Meeting
The first meeting of BOBLME Project Steering Committee was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 3 to 4 March 2010. Representatives of the eight Project countries, FAO and NORAD, SIDA and NOAA attended. The meeting was chaired superbly by Mr. Shamsul Kibria (Joint Secretary of Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, Bangladesh). Over two very full days, the PSC adopted a set of Rules of Procedures to guide its activities over the course of the Project; a Communications Strategy; a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; and the 2010 BOBLME Annual Regional Work Plan.
BOBLME Project Steering Committee Meeting
In addition, after consideration of proposals from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, Thailand was selected by the PSC to host the Project’s Regional Coordination Unit at the Andaman Sea Fisheries Research and Development Center in Phuket. The RCU expects to move to its new offices in August. For more information on the PSC meeting please contact the Regional Coordinator.
For the meeting report: click here National Inception Workshops
BOBLME is holding National Inception Workshops in each of its member countries over the first quarter of 2010, with participants from a wide range of institutions in fisheries and environment, universities, NGOs, foreign assisted projects and other government sector offices expected to attend.
Bangladesh held its meeting at the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) Center Inn, Dhaka on 6-7 January, organized by the BOBLME National Coordinator and Director General of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), Dr. Gulam Hussain. Thailand held its meeting on 19-20 January at the Maruay Garden Hotel in Bangkok coordinated by Ms. Praulai Nootmorn from the Department of Fisheries. Myanmar has held its meeting, chaired by the Department of Fisheries’ Director General U Khin Ko Lay, on 10-11 February in Yangon. This was followed by Maldives, 24-25 February in Male, and Sri Lanka, 26 February in Colombo. The National Inception Workshop in India is scheduled to take place 06-07 May in Visakahapatnam.
BOBLME Project Inception Workshop
BOBLME Project Inception Workshop Group Photo
The Inception Workshop for the BOBLME Project was held from 3 to 5 November 2009 at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Workshop was opened by Dr He Changchui, the Assistant Director-General of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
The workshop was attended by 42 participants from Project countries, donors and prospective partner organisation. The major aims of the workshop were to have the Project activities confirmed by project stakeholders – taking into account recent events and activities in BOBLME Project countries and the activities of regional bodies and non-government organizations working in the area; to obtain endorsement of the proposed monitoring and evaluation system, and explore, with stakeholders, the possibilities for collaboration and partnerships. Participants were also instructed on Large Marine Ecosystems; the Ecosystem approach to fisheries management; Socio-economic monitoring and livelihoods diversification; and TDA and SAP development to promote a better understanding of these major Project areas.
For the workshop report: click here
For the meeting documents:
click here First Meeting of the Andaman Sea Sub-region
BOBLME participated in the “First Meeting of the Andaman Sea Sub-region”, which was organized by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), with support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The Meeting was held in Phuket, Thailand from 20-22 October, 2009.
The Indian delegates from the Ministry of Environment (left) and the Departments of Fisheries and Environment of the Union Territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands (right) with the SEAFDEC SIDA Project Advisor and the BOBLME CTA.
The Andaman Sea is a basin of the Indian Ocean extending west from the Southeast Asian mainland (Malayan Peninsula) towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. At its southeastern side the western entrance of the Malacca Strait is located.The Andaman Sea is a distinct, hydro- and topographically well defined “Marine Ecoregion” of approx 800 000 km2 within the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem and bordered by five countries. SEAFDEC had invited representatives from fisheries and environmental agencies of four ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand), while BOBLME facilitated the participation of three delegates from India (Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as central Government). Other participants included representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP), International Collective in Support of Fish Workers (ICSF), Mangrove for the Future (MFF) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Regional Office, and the Swedish Board of Fisheries (SBF).
The Andaman Sea Sub-region Meeting provided a venue to explore options for the introduction of larger fisheries resources conservation areas (refugia) and to deliberate other fisheries management concerns. The initiated discussion with the countries around the Andaman Sea served to promote collaboration among agencies and organizations working on fisheries, environment and marine and coastal resources management in the Andaman Sea. The Myeik or Mergui Archipelago, forming a large area of the eastern part of the Andaman Sea, is also the focus of the BOBLME component on critical habitat management. Meeting sessions reviewed and provided action-oriented recommendations on key issues of sub-regional concern such as habitat management, fishing capacity, IUU fisheries, and vessel registration, among others and also covered cross-cutting issues of capacity building, local traditional knowledge and climate change. In this way the Meeting provided policy development support as a basis for the design of coordinated management actions on fisheries resources and critical habitats around the Andaman Sea. The meeting was therefore an important contribution to achieve long-term sustainability of fisheries and reduced vulnerability to impacts of climate change in this important sub-region of the Bay of Bengal.
