Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) strategies for the Kroumirie & Mogods Region and Grand Sfax

municipality in Tunisia.

EU-Programme Coordinator
Alessandra Pom

Total Budget
EURO 1.563.489

EC contribution
EURO 1.241.489

Starting Date
Jan 2006

Duration
2 years

Project Web Site E-mail

apome@wwfmedpo.org

Contact
Alessandra Pom

Address
WWF Mediterranean Programme Office, Via Po, 25/c Rome 00198 Italy

Tel
+39 06 8449 7443 (direct line) +39 06 844971 (switch board) +39 346 3873221 Mobile office +39 329 1689811 Personal Mobile

Fax
+39 06 8413 866

Project Background
The Barcelona Declaration of November 1995 opened a new era of co-operation between the 25 EU countries and 10 Mediterranean partners (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey). The European Commission was entrusted with the co-ordination of the development of a Short and Medium-term Priority Environmental Action Programme (SMAP). The SMAP programme constitutes the environmental component of the Euro Mediterranean Partnership. It builds on the Barcelona Declaration, which recognised the importance of reconciling economic development with environmental protection, of integrating environmental concerns into the relevant aspects of economic policy and of mitigating any potential negative environmental consequences . SMAP III, the third regional environmental programme, aims to contribute to the sustainable development, to the protection of the environment and to the improvement of the health and living conditions of the Mediterranean populations, involving local, regional and national partners in a participatory process.

In this third phase priority is given to the Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) of the Mediterranean coastline, specifically addressing the integration of environmental issues in the development of policy actions. The vast majority of the development happening in the Mediterranean Area doesnt account of long term impact. More than 50% of the Mediterranean population is concentrated in the coastal areas, to worsen the situation these areas are seasonally impacted by a significant population growth due to tourism. The pressure exerted by human activities is considerably damaging the coastal ecosystems and landscapes. The Integrated Coastal Area Management is a supple and adaptable mean for the conservation of the coastal resources both on a quantitative and on a qualitative level. Thereby, it is a suitable tool to satisfy our current necessity to ensure sustainable economic and environmental activities for generations to come. The inclusion of sustainable development concepts into policies, plans of action and programs of sectoral development represents one of the main challenges for Tunisia. The national report on the State of the Environment in Tunisia 2002 has outlined a satisfactory degree of integration between environment and other sectors (agriculture, tourism, industry, energy, transport). However, strengthening of this integration, as well as fundamental changes in physical planning are urgently needed. Moreover, as tourism has become a key economic sector in Tunisia, it poses increasing pressure on the fragile marine and coastal ecosystems. The definition of a ICAM plan is crucial to solve the conflicts between the growing demand for tourism investment and biodiversity conservation. Tunisia has already developed, in 1992, a Plan of Action for the management of the coastal areas, aimed at protecting and promoting the natural and cultural heritages of the Tunisian coastal areas, established, in 1995, the Agency for the Protection and Management of Coastal Areas (APAL) and started to develop a legislative framework in the field of coastal management. However, cncrete Integrated Coastal Area Management initiatives have not taken place yet and the advantages of the ICAM approach are still neither fully recognised nor widely publicised. Technical expertise and know-how in ICAM planning and implementation are still insufficiently acquainted and little results have been achieved on the ground yet.

Overall Objective
The SMAP III Tunisia project aims at increasing the awareness of national and local authorities and key economic and social sectors (with special focus on the tourism industry), about the potential benefits of ICAM, specifically from an socio-economic, environmental and cultural perspective, increasing the coordination among such players, setting up of an adequate framework for rationalising and optimising investment decisions, contributing to the reduction of the negative impact of a given sector on the other sectors and the resources, creating a dynamic of change fostering investment and encouraging peoples efforts, allowing a better identification of alternative or supplementary sources of economic activities, thereby diversifying the economic base and enlarging job opportunities, promoting more efficient management methods and therefore giving rise to better development prospects in a wide range of fields, through sounder resources utilisation, while maintaining, or restoring, the biovalue and attractiveness of the areas concerned. This can be achieved only by means of a comprehensive and participated plan of actions, specifically tailored to the needs and potentials of the coastal area concerned, and by preparing all key local stakeholders to the ground implementation of such plans. The project will therefore focus on raising public awareness, strengthening the technical and institutional capacity of key local stakeholders, updating, improving, expanding and consolidating the technical, legal and institutional framework to create an enabling environment for the effective protection of sensitive coastal areas, the reduction of human pressure on the coastal and marine resources and environment, and the sustainable management of such resources through diversification of the economic opportunities (while assuring social equity and contributing to the economic growth of Tunisia) and sharing results and achievements with key stakeholders to ensure local ownership of the initiatives. The achievement of these goals will be pursued through the elaboration of two participatory and concerted integrated coastal area management plans of action for the regions of Kroumirie & Mogods and Grand Sfax

(Tunisia) to be used as a model for the development and implementation of a national integrated coastal management plan.

Specific Objectives
1) Project management, co-ordination and knowledge transfer mechanisms among all interested parties defined. 2) Preliminary environmental, socio-economic, cultural and institutional assessment of the Region of Kroumirie & Mogods and Grand Sfax run to better orient the ICAM process: coastal area reports elaborated for each of the pilot areas. 3) Public national and local institutions and the relevant stakeholders capacity strengthened through knowledge and experiences transfer among partners. 4) Alternative development and conservation scenarios identified, including the legal framework for the creation of a marine protected area in the Kroumirie & Mogods pilot area, and the natural park in the wetland of Thyna and a marine protected area in the Kerkennah, in the Grand Sfax pilot area. 5) Two preliminary Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) Plans of action for the pilot areas of Kroumirie & Mogods and Grand Sfax defined and submitted through participatory process to relevant authorities and stakeholders. The ICAM Plans of action will encompass the following major areas of intervention: the establishment of coastal/marine protected areas and their integration into the sustainable economic development patterns of the coastal communities, pollution prevention/cleaning, industrial sites and salt mines rehabilitation and promotion of sustainable income generating activities with special focus on tourism and fisheries. 6) Public awareness raised, through national and international seminars, conferences, visibility actions and events targeted to all relevant target groups, and local support obtained for the adoption of the two ICAM Plans of action at local and national level. 7) Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms defined to allow for the ICAM Plans of action to follow and be adapted to the evolution of the coastal zone needs (adapting management system).

Project Strategy
The project develops according to the stages of an ICAM planning: 1. Preparatory phase 1.1 Set up the Project Governance Structure. 1.2 Refine the project work plan, the working protocol, and the role of each partner and associate. 1.3 Define and approve a participatory process mechanism, which will be applied to ensure the full involvement of key stakeholders and players in the ICAM process. 1.4 Logistic organisation to set up local operative project staff, including setting up of a communication and data sharing system (phone directory, e-mail directory, etc.) 2. Assessment phase 2.1 Define and approve the geographical boarders of the two pilot areas. 2.2 Gather existing data and identify information gaps. 2.3 Identify international and local experts, taking into account the identified needs, to run issue oriented surveys and on the ground researches. 2.4 Run issue-oriented surveys and on the ground researches. 2.5 Update existing data and fill the information gaps. 2.6 Establish a Data Management System and a Geographical Information System database and elaborate GIS layers in support to the Analysis, forecasting and strategy formulation phase. 2.7 Building on the results of the previous activities, produce two Costal Area Reports that help identify the coastal resources, activities, uses, habitats, and protected areas, as well as major resource management issues. 2.8 Organize a set of national and local workshops and meetings. 3. Analysis, forecasting and strategy formulation.

On the basis of the outputs of the previous phases, proceed with the analysis of data, forecasting of possible scenarios, definition of goals and strategies. 3.2 The analysis and forecasting phase will be developed according to the following steps: Analysis of existing sectorial plans; Forecasting of future demands on natural resources; Development of possible conservation options and management strategies; Definition of sectorial and cross-sectorial goals and objectives for the ICAM plans of action; Definition of legal, financial and institutional requirements of ICAM plans of action. 4. ICAM Planning. 4.1 Building on the results of the previous phases, prepare two ICAM plans of action, for the pilot area of the Region of Kroumirie Mogods and the pilot area of Gran Sfax. The documents will offer longterm solutions to the problems of coastal areas, specifying a course of action for interested persons, decision makers and professionals in their performing of daily management duties. The ICAM plan of action for the pilot area of K&M Region will include the legal framework for the creation of a marine/coastal protected area in Cap Negro and the development of sustainable income generating activities linked to the MPA (i.e. sustainable tourism). The ICAM plan of action for the Grand Sfax will focus on the South Coast of Grand Sfax and the Kerkennah archipelago, and will encompass specific activities aimed at the rehabilitation of industrial sites; the decontamination and re-qualification of the southern coast of Grand Sfax; the rehabilitation of the salt mines; the establishment of a natural park in the Thyna site and in the archipelago of the Kerkennah; the promotion of sustainable tourism linked to natural parks; the promotion of sustainable fishing. 4.2 Organize meetings to ensure a continuous exchange of information and views among stakeholders. 5. Public awareness and participatory process. The purpose of this activity is to increase awareness of local communities for initiatives in their social and economic interests, and motivate them to take action. Public awareness of the ICAM process will be raised through local, national and international seminars, conferences, visibility actions and events targeted to all relevant groups. 6. Capacity building. The capacity of public bodies and relevant stakeholders will be assed in the preparatory stage of the project implementation. According to the results of the assessment, seminars will be organized so as to provide the needed information, technical advice, support to the groups. Responsible for each public administration and group of interest will be identified who will become the link between the project management structure and the local groups. Moreover local and national experts and referees will be identified and will be fully involved in the project implementation for a on-duty capacity building. 7. Monitoring and evaluation. A monitoring and evaluation protocol for the whole ICAM process will be defined and adhere to systematically feed information back into the process, allowing for the necessary adjustments to the process and policies in the light of changing conditions, operational constraints and feedback from stakeholders and authorities and unforeseen external factors.

3.1

Expected Outcomes
The project aims at increasing the awareness of national and local authorities and key economic and social sectors (with special focus on the tourism industry), about the potential benefits of ICAM, specifically from a socio-economic, environmental and cultural perspective, increasing the coordination among such players, setting up of an adequate framework for rationalising and optimising investment decisions, contributing to the reduction of the negative impact of a given sector on the other sectors and the resources, creating a dynamic of change fostering investment and encouraging peoples efforts, allowing a better identification of alternative or supplementary sources of economic activities, thereby diversifying the economic base and enlarging job opportunities, promoting more efficient management methods and therefore giving rise to better development prospects in a wide range of fields, through sounder resources utilisation, while maintaining, or restoring, the biovalue and attractiveness of the areas concerned. From an environmental point of view the project will enhance the ongoing Tunisian effort in the active management of the coasts, covering a vast array of diverse ecosystems (coastal, marine, urban and forest).

This conservation action will be performed through the implementation of adequate protection measures and the sustainable and rational exploitation of the principal ecosystems of the region harbouring the highest biodiversity, and will promote the collaboration between the major stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in the exploitation of the area. From the socio-economic point of view the project will contribute to ameliorate the management of natural resources, support and assist ecotourism activities and agriculture, improving thereby the economic potential of the region, providing job opportunities and integrating industrial activities of the surrounding urban areas in the natural environment.

Project Partners
Tunisia APAL: Agence de la Protection et dAmnagement du Littoral Sfax Municipality Address 2, Rue Mohamed Rachid Ridha-Blvdre 2054 Cedex -Tunis- Tunisia Avenue Habib Bourguiba 3029 Sfax-Tunisia Tel +216 71 840 177 Fax: +216 71 848 660 +216 74 210 736 +216 74 229 744 Fax: +216 74 200 049 +216 74 297 344 +216 74 274 088 Fax: +216 74 275 595 +216 74 437 352 +216 74 437 362 Fax: +216 74 437 362 E-mail/web

sdgs.sfax@tunet.tn sfax.municipalites@email.ati.tn

University of Sfax: Ecole Nationale dIngenieurs de Sfax Taparura Public Society : Socit dEtudes et dAmnagement des Ctes Nord de la Ville de Sfax Mediterranean Medcities/MedCits et Area metropolitana de Barcelona Entitat del medi ambient WWF Mediterranean Programme

ENIS BP W 3038 Sfax - Tunisia

monem.kalell@enis.rnu.tn www.enis.rnu.tn

Rue Ezzamakhchari, 11 Cit El-Maref-Zone Elbosten 3002 Sfax - Tunisia

projet.taparua@seacnvs.com.tn

Address Carrer 62, 16 -18 Edific B Zona Franca 08040 Barcelone - Spain

Tel +34 93 2234 169 Fax: +34 93 2234 849

E-mail/web desurb@amb.es www.medcities.net

Via Po 25/c 00198 Roma - Italy

+39 06 8449 7443 Fax: +39 06 8413 866

apome@wwfmedpo.org www.panda.org/mediterranean