Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and Small Islands

UNESCO program for Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and Small Islands (CSI), is a global platform for environmentally sound, socially equitable, culturally respectful and economically viable development in coastal regions and small islands. Besides the conservation of marine resources for sustainable use by future generations, the driving force and main goal of CSI is the mitigation and management of conflicts over coastal resources and values. Wise practices in integrated marine and coastal area management have been discussed extensively among stakeholders and have been defined as actions, tools, principles or decisions that contribute significantly to the achievement of environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, culturally appropriate and economically sound development in coastal areas. Sixteen selected wise practice characteristics are currently being used in CSI-related field projects to assess whether wise practices and projects are contributing to:

* Improving scientific understanding of natural, cultural and social processes related to human beings interacting with the coastal environment
* Providing information for decision-making on the use of coastal resources
* Setting up a framework for sustainable development and resource protection
* Identifying and implementing alternative income generating activities, followed by an evaluation of their impact and benefits
* Generating conceptual models to apply lessons learned in other sites in the region
* Strengthening regional cooperation frameworks

Since the CSI platform was initiated in 1996, three closely linked approaches have been adopted:

* Field-based pilot projects, such as in Ulugan Bay, Philippines, and Jakarta Bay, Indonesia, aim to provide a framework for participatory and collaborative management of marine resources. So far 23 CSI field projects are being implemented worldwide.
* UNESCO Chairs and University Twinning (UNITWIN) arrangements, which support and enhance the field project activities through training and capacity building as well as by raising awareness, also play an important role as multiplicators of wise practices. Three ’coastal’ university chairs have been formally established, and others are being set into place.
* Three internet-based and multi-lingual discussion groups aim to connect practitioners and concerned civil society members in order to share and test the locally developed wise practice concepts on a global level.

o The Forum on Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development, which now includes some 16,000 participants from around the world, has developed a series of 65 wise practice examples, which aim to guide sustainable development action on the ground and sustains a lively discussion on themes ranging from environmental and social mining impacts on small islands to concepts of culturally appropriate ecotourism development www.csiwisepractices.org , (username csi and password wise).

o The Small Islands Voice Initiative - Shared small island concerns are discussed under www.sivglobal.org and recent issues included e.g. the role of foreign investment in the framework of sustainable small island development, freshwater supply and demand and the damaging impact of overfishing through unlicensed foreign fishing vessels in small island Nations territories.

o The Small Islands Voice Youth Initiative is using the internet to connect small island school classes in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean. The internet based youth forum and www.sivyouth.org (user name view, password only) provides a platform to share feelings and opinions on themes such as my island home, what I think of my country and money in my pocket, giving youth an opportunity to share pride as well as concern with peers in different parts of the world.