The Nairobi Convention

The Nairobi Convention provides a mechanism for regional cooperation, coordination and collaborative actions in the Eastern and Southern African region that enables the Contracting Parties to harness resources and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders and interest groups towards solving interlinked problems of the coastal and marine environment including critical national and transboundary issues.

The Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region was signed in 1985 and came into force in 1996, making it one of 17 regional seas conventions and action plans. The Convention was amended and adopted in April, 2010.

The Contracting Parties to the Nairobi Convention are Comoros, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and the Republic of South Africa.

The Secretariat for the Nairobi Convention

The Convention’s Work Programme is implemented through a broad-based coordination structure including the core secretariat based in Nairobi guided by the governments of the region through a network of national focal points and thematic experts groups such as Coral Reef Taskforce, Marine Turtle Task Force, Marine Protected Areas and Legal and Technical Working Group

The Secretariat also works closely with collaborating partners such as regional NGOs and various national and research institutions.

It has successfully catalysed the establishment of the “Consortium for Conservation of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean” (WIO-C). This is a consortium between major NGOs in the Western Indian Ocean which have developed marine programmes. The aim is to enhance collaboration, exchange of information and synergy towards a joint programmatic approach in addressing marine and coastal environmental issue in the region.

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