WWF International

The tsunamis of Sunday 26 December 2004 struck without apparent warning on a clear day. Not only was there a devastating loss of life, but coastal resources and infrastructure in the Indian Ocean suffered massive destruction as well. This book focuses on the impacts on the natural coastal resources, especially the coral reefs and associated ecosystems, and the responses by the international community.

With more than 70 individual sites, nationally and internationally designated, in the Western Indian Ocean, there is a growing need to ensure and improve the management effectiveness of the marine protected areas. This toolkit aims to act as a first point of call in the search for information on issues that MPA managers and practitioners face in day-to-day operations.

Biodiversity within inland water ecosystems in Eastern Africa is highly diverse and of great importance to livelihoods and economies, however, development activities are not always compatible with the conservation of this diversity and it is poorly represented in the development planning process. One of the main reasons is the lack of readily available information on the status and distribution of inland water taxa.