Please see opportunities page for more information.

The second Call for Proposals guidelines will be available on the website as from the 1st of December, 2008; official launch date of the 2nd Call for Proposals.

AThe School Contest organized by ReCoMaP from March to May 2008 went very well in Mauritius Island and Rodrigues. The level of participation was beyond expectations with 1.9% and 14% for Mauritius Island and Rodrigues respectively (the objective was 1% participation).
Awareness Sessions were held in nearly all primary and secondary schools of Rodrigues where as in Mauritius Island, there were two national sessions with a few ones in primary and secondary schools of the island. The Award Ceremonies have also been held in the presence of the winners and their families, headteachers, ministers, ambassadors and representatives of the Indian Ocean Commission and of the European Delegation.
In the Seychelles, the competitions have been a sucess for the Primary and Secondary sectors whereas for the Post-secondary, a new competition is being run. The next leg of the School Contest will be in Madagascar where it will be organized in six coastal regions only from November 4 to December 15, 2008.

ReCoMaP will conduct a Regional Short Course in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) in Mauritius between the 19th and 25th May 2008. This important one-week course will be composed of three individual Training Modules on Principles of ICZM Policy Development, Planning Processes in ICZM, and Monitoring and Indicators in ICZM. It will be attended by 75 delegates from all government and non-government sectors in the Region.
Delegates may download the Information and Documentation Pack from our publications menu http://www.recomap-io.org/publications.php

At 7th January 2008, more than two weeks after the closing date of ReCoMaP’s first Call for Proposals, some 250 submissions have been received! The evaluation process will start at the end of January. ReCoMaP is an Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) project, funded by the European Union, and operates in seven countries in the region: the Union of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, the Republic of Mauritius, the Seychelles, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania.
“We are on target! The number of submissions received is satisfactory. This is very good for us but also for the concerned organisations,” says Michel de San, ReCoMaP’s new Regional Coordinator. “This also demonstrates that information has been widely disseminated as we have received submissions from countries other than the focus ones also,” adds Abubacar Tayffa Hassanali, the Programme’s Expert on Local Development and Call for Proposals.
In fact, for its first Call for Proposals (CFP), ReCoMaP has invested much on information dissemination and communication. The CFP Press Communiqué was published in English, French and Swahili in the regional press while the posters sent for dissemination were in English, French, Swahili and Creole. As for the radio spots, they have been produced in 12 languages (English, French, Mauritian Creole, Seychellois Creole, Tanzanian Swahili, Kenyan Swahili, Zanzibari Swahili, Grande Comore Shikomor, Anjouan Shikomor, Moheli Shikomor, Malagasy and Somali) and aired on 16 radio stations in the seven focus countries. A web banner was also published on a Somali web-based news provider.
Evaluation and Assessment
The Regional Coordination Unit will be busy with the evaluation and assessment of the Concept Notes and Full Proposals of the CFP in the first semester of 2008. The Evaluation process will start in the third week of January and should be completed by the beginning of March 2008 when the successful organisations will be called to submit their Full Proposals by mid-May or so.
The evaluation of the Full Proposals by the Assessors should then start at the end of June and the final list of approved projects should be known by the beginning of August. The projects of ReCoMaP’s first Call for Proposals could then start. Just after the awarding procedures of the 1st CFP, the preparations for the second one will start as the launch is scheduled for November/December 2008. Grants for the CFP vary from 10,000 to 100,000 euros.

• Selected projects to receive grants of between €10,000 and €100,000

The first Call for Proposals under the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean countries (ReCoMaP) was launched on 1 November. ReCoMaP is an Indian Ocean Commission project, funded by the European Union, and is operating in seven countries in the region: the Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius and Rodrigues, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania, including Zanzibar.

The CFP is a mechanism to finance non-state actors – groupings of the civil society, private sector organisations and local government authorities – involved in projects related to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) that target at least one of the priorities issues identified for the region. These priorities are: the management of coastal marine resources, the control of upland soil erosion and coastal erosion, the management of solid and liquid waste and the promotion of mariculture and coastal eco-tourism. Grants for selected projects will range between €10,000 and €100,000 and the deadline for submission of Concept Notes is Friday 21 December 2007.

In the words of Aboubacar-Tayffa Hassanali, ReCoMaP’s expert on Calls for Proposals (CFP) and Local Development, “ReCoMaP’s first year has been mainly focused on supporting institutional and strategic aspects of ICZM in our partner countries, but this is our first initiative to directly support local people and local projects in the field.”

Further information on ReCoMaP’s First Call for Proposals (including how to complete and submit a concept note) can be found in the Guidelines available on the programme’s website at www.recomap-io.org. The Guidelines are also available from the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU), 112 Farquhar Avenue, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius. Interested parties can also contact ReCoMaP’s ICZM Officers in the participating countries or the RCU itself by e-mail on cfp-ap@coi-ioc.org


For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Shafick Osman on +230 252 5659 or Aboubacar-Tayffa Hassanali on +230 250 2904.

With the support of the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean Countries (ReCoMaP), a project of the Indian Ocean Commission financed by the European Union, the Mauritian authorities are giving a boost to the National Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Committee.

On September 13, a meeting of the ICZM Committee will be held in presence of the ReCoMaP experts. The meeting will be the occasion for ReCoMaP to present its 2007-08 activities, the Geographical Information System (GIS) support strategy and the outlines of a regional mission on marine aquaculture. The Ministry of Tourism will also present the outline of the ongoing ReCoMaP sponsored Assessment of the Coastal Tourism Sector in the region, including Mauritius. This assessment focuses on the current coastal ecotourism potential as well as on the general environmental impact of tourism in the region.

Moreover, in Madagascar, after the signature of a respective document some ten days ago by the Malagasy Environment Minister, the country has formally engaged setting up a National ICZM Committee. The first Committee Meeting will be held in the coming weeks, with the support of the Prime Minister’s Office, and is expected to significantly strengthen the ICZM planning and co-management process in the country.

Marine Aquaculture (or “Mariculture”) and Ecotourism are potentially important economic sectors for all South West Indian Ocean countries, and ReCoMaP is currently assessing opportunities in these two sectors for further development among coastal communities.

Since August 13, two mariculture specialists from South Africa, Tom Hecht and Tom Shipton, have been travelling throughout the South-West Indian Ocean region to review current maricultural practices and to assess the potential for further sector development among coastal communities. Messrs. Hecht and Shipton will be completing their mission on September 22.

Meanwhile, two tourism specialists, Juan Palerm from Spain and David Picard from Germany, will be looking into the impact of tourism on coastlines, as well as potential opportunities for the development of eco-tourism as a source of livelihood for the region’s coastal communities. They start work on 27 August and their mission will conclude with a regional workshop on 6 and 7 November with the Regional Technical Advisory Committee on Tourism (TACT) at the headquarters of the Indian Ocean Commission.

The specialists’ assessments will be used to determine how ReCoMaP should support activities in these two major economic sectors. Their results will be particularly useful to coastal communities and other coastal stakeholders wishing to respond to the Call for Proposals which will be launched by ReCoMaP later this year in the programme’s beneficiary countries - The Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

ReCoMap (Regional Programme for the Sustainable Development of Coastal Zones in Indian Ocean Countries) is an Indian Ocean Commission project, funded by the European Union. Its Regional Coordination Unit is based in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius.

ReCoMaP supported the participation of the Mauritius Tourism Authority and the Mauritius Marine Conservation Society (MMCS) in a Regional Cetaceans Workshop held in Sainte-Marie, Madagascar, from 1 to 4 July 2007.

Cetaceans are sea creatures, such as dolphins and whales, which breathe through blowholes. The purpose of the workshop was to establish a regional network to promote the study, conservation and sustainable development of an eco-tourism industry centred on whale and dolphin watching. These are activities that could generate significant revenue for coastal communities in South West Indian Ocean countries and, therefore, ReCoMaP will be supporting their development.

The workshop was particularly relevant to Mauritius’ highly lucrative but currently unregulated dolphin-watching industry. It enabled Joel Rault, the Executive Director of the Tourism Authority, and Jacqueline Sauzier, the President of MMCS, to learn about practices and regulations applied in other countries, and this knowledge will enable them to define and promote the adoption of measures that Mauritius needs to the long-term sustainability of this important economic activity.

A team from the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) of the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean Countries (ReCoMaP) has recently completed a mission to the Comoros.

The main objective of the visit was to work with the Government of the Union of Comoros to help constitute a national committee that will manage coastal zone development and marine resource-use in the country, taking an approach known as integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). The RCU team also endeavoured to finalise the ReCoMaP Action Plan (2007-08) for the Comoros and presented, as well, to local NGOs and community-based organisations the recently completed guidelines for a small-projects grant scheme that will be launched by ReCoMaP towards the end of 2007.

The team, comprising Mr Aboubacar-Tayffa Hassanali, ReCoMaP’s Local Development Expert, and Dr. Winfried Wiedemeyer, the programme’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Expert, arrived in the country on July 5th for a one-week mission, visiting the islands of Grande Comore and Moheli.

This mission was building on the outcomes of a ReCoMaP-sponsored ICZM planning workshop held in March 2007 in Moroni, the capital of the Comoros. This workshop recommended the revival of the National Sustainable Development Committee (NSDC) to manage the sustainable development of coastal zones. While the new legislation for the NSDC is being prepared -a process expected to be completed in October 2007-; a provisional National ICZM Committee has been established with ReCoMaP’s assistance. This ICZM committee has been tasked to finalize the NSDC legislation as well as to steer the implementation of ReCoMaP activities in the Comoros.

Focus for the Comoros

In Moheli, the team helped to establish a provisional ICZM committee for the island, which, as on Grande Comore, will operate only until a Regional Sustainable Development Committee (RSDC) is set up. Particular emphasis will be put, in Moheli, on the fight against coastal erosion caused by sand extraction and on the development of eco-tourism, consolidating other initiatives financed by the Eighth European Development Fund.

During discussions relating to a vision for the national ICZM in the Comoros, the Government opted for a focus on land management and planning into which issues relating to coastal resources will be integrated. This approach has been approved by the Minister for Infrastructure and Land Management, Mr. Nailane Me Hadji, who met the ReCoMaP team.

The team also took part in the Open Day of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), which took place in Moroni on the 4th and 5th of July. After the Comoros, the next ReCoMaP mission is planned for Kenya and Tanzania (Zanzibar included) early August.

The ReCoMaP programme, which started in August 2006, is a project of the IOC financed by the European Union. Seven states are benefiting from the project: the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Madagascar, the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Seychelles, the Somali Republic, the Union of Comoros and the United Republic of Tanzania.


Photograph caption: “Eco-tourism is already a reality in Moheli”

Two clear objectives for the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) of the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean Countries (ReCoMap) which is on mission in the beneficiary countries these days: The development of Action Plans in each of these countries for year 2007-08, in consultation with the various national Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) committees, and the development of guidelines for the Call for Proposals which will be launched at the end of 2007.

After the visits and working sessions in Mauritius at the beginning of June, a team of the RCU went to Rodrigues from 11 to 16 June, to Madagascar from 26 to 30 June and to the Comoros from 5 to 12 July. They will be moving to the Seychelles, Kenya and Tanzania by the beginning of August. The ReCoMap team is made up of Bruno Francois, Regional Programme Coordinator, Aboubacar-Tayffa Hassanali, Local Development Expert, and Dr. Winfried Wiedemeyer, ICZM Expert.

The ReCoMap programme, started in August 2006, is a project of the Indian Ocean Commission, financed by the European Union, which Regional Coordination Unit is based in Mauritius. Seven countries are concerned by the project: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania.

The very first meeting of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean Countries (ReCoMaP) will be held at the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) Secretariat in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, from Tuesday 29 to Wednesday 30 May 2007.

The Opening Session will be chaired by Mrs Monique Andreas-Esoavelomandroso, Secretary General of the IOC, in the presence of Mr. Franck Viault, Chargé d’Affaires of the delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Mauritius. Other high ranking officials representing governments of the countries of the sub-region of the South West Indian Ocean and intergovernmental organisations involved in the implementation of the Programme will also be in attendance.

Some 35 participants are coming from seven countries of the region: Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, France (Reunion Island). Most of sub-regional organizations (COMESA, IGAD, EAC), members of the Inter-regional Coordination Committee (IRCC), will also be represented.

The European Union, which is funding the entire Programme to the amount of 18million euros, will be represented by the various delegations of the European Commission in Mauritius (in charge of the region’s programmes and with jurisdiction in the Comoros and the Seychelles,), Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania.

All national delegations will make a presentation on the state of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) of their country in relation to the objectives of ReCoMaP.

The RSC will meet at least twice a year under the chairmanship of the Secretariat of Indian Ocean Commission, which is the Contracting Authority of the Programme. It approves the yearly budget of the Programme and determines the strategic orientations in relation to the implementation of activities.

During the two days of the meeting, members of the Regional Steering Committee will examine and validate, among other things, the progress made to date as well as the Action Plan for 2007-2008.

ReCoMaP is a programme over five years. Its main objective is the reduction of poverty among local communities by the way of capacity building for the protection and management of natural resources through the promotion of integrated coastal zone management in the countries of the Indian Ocean.

The Programme is being implemented by a Regional Coordination Unit based in Mauritius under the authority of the Indian Ocean Commission. In each recipient country, a National Focal Point will be in charge of the coordination and implementation of the activities on the field.

On the occasion of the World Environment Day to be celebrated on 5 June 2007, the regional government of Rodrigues Island has invited ReCoMap to present its objectives and activities to the Rodriguans. This initiative of the Rodriguan authorities is a premiere as it will be mobilizing environmental stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.