Consultations with government, donors and major NGO stakeholders informed ReCoMaP of partner country expectations, existing programmes and specific needs in the context of existing governance policies. The Programme addressed these wherever possible, subject to the parameters defined in the Logical Framework and the financial mechanisms available.

 

The collection of data (and its subsequent translation into information) was confirmed as a persistent constraint to the effective management of the use of coastal marine resources in the WIO and ESA. ReCoMaP therefore supported a number of core initiatives to address this constraint, with both Government and NGO partners. Interventions have been, as far as it was possible, strategic and coherent with other programmes, and were fully integrated into existing/developing governance systems.

 

Simple but effective information systems have been developed and collaboration between stakeholders and across the region has been actively promoted. Although few new tools were developed, the application of existing tools, found either in the region or brought in from elsewhere, were applied. Materials have been purchased, operational funds disbursed, capacity-building provided and local/regional skills employed to the greatest extent possible to promote sustainability. GIS featured in a number of data (and MPA) initiatives as well as being the focus of some specific activities.

 

MPAs were supported through a competitive Call for Proposals, following the existing EU guidelines and procedures. Ten grants, with a total value of € 675,298, were awarded across 6 partner countries: Comoros (1), Kenya (1), Madagascar (1), Mauritius (2), Seychelles (3) and Tanzania (2). It was not possible to award an MPA grant to Somalia because of the lack of security within that country. The establishment of two new MPAs was successfully supported in Madagascar and Tanzania, and a feasibility study for a third was undertaken in Mauritius.

 

ReCoMaP supported a limited number of ecotourism and sustainable tourism initiatives, but expanded the scope of Activity 1.6 to include mariculture. The Programme subsequently delivered significant contributions to this potentially important livelihood opportunity in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar and to a lesser extent in Mauritius, Rodrigues and Seychelles. This was mainly linked with the CFPs and we try as far as possible to sustain it by developing strong link with the private sector where it was possible.

 

The issue of 'sustainability' has often been raised during the implementation of ReCoMaP, particularly in the mid-term review and more recently as the programme draws to a close. But the reality is that many of ReCoMaP's initiatives will require further support for the foreseeable future. This is for two main reasons:

 

Firstly, fisheries, marine and coastal zone management departments usually face severe financial constraints, especially at the local governance level, where decentralisation programmes usually receive inadequate financial support. This is usually exacerbated by the inability of government departments to successfully lobby for the necessary funds during national budget allocations. By comparison, international NGOs, which are playing an increasingly important role in effectively implementing government policies, have relatively abundant financial resources at their disposal; the increasing collaboration and partnership witnessed between governments and NGOs is a generally a welcome development and should be promoted, although there may be governance and legitimacy issues that need to be monitored.

 

Secondly, there remain (despite the best efforts of ReCoMaP and numerous previous and concurrent programmes) important challenges of human resources within Government departments. It is likely that much of this is simply a reflection of the wider budgetary constraints faced by Governments. With the relatively poor rates of remuneration, usually limited career development opportunities and scarce operational budgets, government staff often faces a relatively unrewarding work environment. In contrast, larger NGOs (the main competitor for marine scientist and managers in the region) tend to offer higher basic pay rates and more flexible employment contracts, but with more stringent monitoring of employees' performance, than those of government employees. The higher potential income and opportunities for professional advancement attract from a wider pool of skilled individuals, while the regular and demanding performance evaluations tends to motivate those individuals to deliver optimum performance.

 

The overall budgetary and human resource context is unlikely to change significantly in the short- to medium-term in most countries in the WIO/ESA region. But donor-funded programmes can continue to provide important contributions to government departments to support activities otherwise struggling for sufficient financial resources. Such programmes can also support linkages between government staff and NGOs (as well as other organisations or individuals) and such linkages can improve the job performance of government staff (as well as job satisfaction, which is important) and thus ultimately improve the implementation of government policies. When government do have short-term boosts in revenues, such as with the World Bank loans provided to Tanzania and Kenya (valued at over USD 100 million) the partnerships developed or facilitated by programmes such as ReCoMaP can improve the utilisation of these ephemeral resources.