Welcome to the ASCLME Project

Between 2008 and 2013, the nine countries of the western Indian Ocean region, including Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania, will work together through the UNDP supported GEF financed Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) Project.

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Conclusions

The transboundary ecosystems of the west Indian Ocean, their dependence on their physical, chemical and geological environment and the possible effect of climate change on these interrelated systems all remain largely unknown. This holds true for the Agulhas Current system, the Somali Current system and the Mascarene Plateau and the islands of the southwest Indian Ocean. In order to establish some criteria for the proper management of these ecosystems, exploratory investigations are required to establish essential baseline information. This is one of the primary objectives of the ASCLME Project.

For more information:
Lutjeharms, JRE. 2007. Three decades of research on the greater Agulhas Current. Ocean Sci., 3, 129-147.
Lutjeharms, JRE. 2006. The coastal oceans of south-eastern Africa. In The Sea, Vol 14B, editors Robinson, AR and Brink, KH. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA. Pp. 783-834.

Heileman et al.,  2008. Agulhas and Somali Current LMEs chapters from The UNEP Large Marine Ecosystem Report:  A Perspective on Changing Conditions in LMEs of the World's Regional Seas.