South Asian seas

South Asian Seas Action Plan

A. Overview

South Asia has some of the largest and biologically rich marine ecosystems, such as the Gulf of Mannar, Atolls of Maldives and Mangroves of Sundarbans. The presence of perennial rivers such as the Brahmaputra, Ganges, Godavari, Indus, Kelani, Magna, etc. have contributed to large networks of backwaters, estuaries, salt marshes and mangroves. The region, bordered to the north by the Himalayas and to the south by the Indian Ocean, covers a diversity of ecosystems from lush tropical forest to harsh, dry desert.

The South Asian Seas (SAS) provides habitats for endangered marine turtles, for example the Green and Olive Ridley turtles. Some of the largest coastal lagoons of the world such as Chilka Lake in India and Puttalam lagoon in Sri Lanka are located within the region.

The Lakshadweep and Nicobar group of islands of India and a few regions of Sri Lanka have fringing reefs. But if the marine environment of South Asian Seas is remarkable, the environmental problem the region faces are all too mundane: expanding human populations, oil transport across the Arabian Sea, heavy use of agricultural and industrial chemicals, harmful fishing practices, and ill-planned land use. 

These pressures have destroyed important habitat, driven many wildlife species near to extinction and altogether compromised the future of the people.

South Asia is one of the most populous regions, with over 1 billion people living in India alone. Although never remounted as a single country, the movements of peoples over thousands of years has resulted in strong commonalities between cultures. Yet there remains a huge diversity of languages, religions and outlooks across the sub-continent. Most of the South Asian nations share many similar environmental problems, stemming from poverty and its consequences on natural resources. According to the World Bank, during the past decade, South Asia has been the second fastest economically growing region in the world, and their efforts at increased production have put increasing pressure on natural resources and the environment. Significant natural resource concerns of the region include depletion of water quality and quantity, dwindling forests and coastal resources, and soil degradation resulting from nutrient depletion and salinization.

B. Introduction

South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) is an intergovernmental organization established by the South Asian countries to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region at the High-Level Meeting to Initiate SACEP held on February 1981 at Colombo, Sri Lanka.  It is also the Secretariat of the South Asian Seas Programme as of 1995 covering the five marine states of South Asia namely Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Three land-locked countries of SACEP, namely Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal are important watersheds draining into South Asian Seas and are thus important stakeholders to this Seas Programme.  SACEP is registered with the UN Secretariat as a multilateral organization in accordance with article 102 of the charter of the United Nations. Since its creation, SACEP has implemented a number of projects and programmes in the areas of environment education, environment legislation, biodiversity, air pollution, promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production, Waste Management, Climate Change and the protection and management of the coastal environment.

C. The Convention and its related legal instruments

1. The Colombo Declaration on the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme – On 21 – 25 February 1981 a Ministerial level meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, approved the Colombo Declaration and the Articles of Association for the initiation of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP)
2. Articles of Association of SACEP - SACEP became a legal entity on 9 February 1982, when the minimum required number of countries ratified the Articles of Association of SACEP and up to date eight countries, namely; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have obtained membership of the organization.

D. Organizational structure

1. The Governing Council (GC) - The governing council (GC) is the principal deliberative and review body responsible for determining policies, strategies and programmes. It is represented at the ministerial level and periodically meets to take decisions of strategic significance.
2. The Consultative Committee is responsible for facilitating implementation of policies, strategies and progammes determined by the governing council and consists of representatives of diplomatic missions of member countries residing in Colombo.
3. National Focal Points (NFP) - It is the responsibility of each member state to designate a national focal point to facilitate the work of the secretariat and to function as the main communication link with the member states and with the secretariat. 
4. Inter-governmental Meeting of Ministers (IMM) of the South Asian Seas Programme: It is  the function of the meeting of the Governments to keep under review the implementation and execution of the Action Plan and should make policy decisions concerning all substantive and financial matters and, in particular, review the progress achieved in implementing the programmes since the previous meeting, careful evaluation of the results achieved, adopt a workplan for the implementation of the programme in the subsequent two year period; provide the policy guidance for the procedures to be followed in the implementation of the programme, approve the budgetary resources required to support the workplan and their allocation for a two year period, and agree upon the means for financing activities of the programme, including firm pledges for contributions to be made by Governments.
5. SACEP Secretariat - It is headed by a Director General, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka where host facilities are provided by the Government of Sri Lanka.

E. Areas of work

SACEP has an impressive record in capacity building and policy dialogue with government officials of member countries and other environmental stakeholders, developing and promoting tools and good practices for sustainable development and for public/stakeholder involvement, implementing ministerial mandates and contributing to international processes. Much of these efforts have been in the thematic areas of

• Biodiversity Conservation
• Sustainable Consumption and Production
• Air, land and water pollution with trans-boundary implications
• Coastal and Marine Environment,
• Climate Change, and
• Environmental Planning, Policy and Law.

These activities implemented under number of Strategic Programmes since SACEP’s inception. During the 2020–2030 period, SACEP will pursue the following strategic goals in the region. The goals define the core priorities and focus of SACEP for the next ten years:  This goals are defined in the SACEP strategy (2020 – 2030) and builds on the decisions made by SACEP Governing Council at its previous sittings, SACEP’s own experiences of coordinating and assisting the region’s environment protection efforts over the years as well as from its needs advancing forward, Post 2015 South Asia Development Agenda, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The goals are:

1. Enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures
2. Conservation of ecosystem and biodiversity
3. Ensure effective waste management at all levels
4. Ensure better air quality to safeguard health and well being
5. Strengthen low-emission development, improve resource efficiency for transition to an inclusive green economy and fostered sustainable and healthy lifestyles
6. Strengthen environmental governance for evidence-based decision making

F. Ongoing projects

1. Plastic free Rivers and Seas for South Asia Project – SACEP, World Bank and Parley for the Oceans are collaborating to formulate and implement a regional project on ‘Plastic free Rivers and Seas for South Asia’. The $50 million regional project includes a $37 million grant from the International Development Association, the World Bank concessional fund, and $13 million parallel financing from Parley for the Oceans. It also received support from the South Asia Water Initiative, a trust fund supported by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and Norway. The project will be implemented over a period of five years. The project development objective (PDO) is to strengthen innovation and coordination of circular economy solutions to plastic pollution flowing into South Asian Seas. 
2. South Asian Nitrogen Hub: SACEP established ‘the South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH)’, in collaboration with the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and many other organizations across the UK and South Asia. The Hub is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). SANH is a five-year project started in 2019. The overall goal of the GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub is to develop an approach that links the many impacts of human alteration of the nitrogen cycle on environment, health, food security and climate resilience. The partnership recognizes that historical specialisation across the nitrogen cycle has led to fragmented policy responses, often associated with little progress. The hub therefore builds interdisciplinary integration as a foundation to overcoming the barriers, which is vital to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The hub will take this forward by developing better understanding of the social, cultural and economic barriers to adopting measures, technologies and lifestyles that reduce N pollution.

G. Partnerships

SACEP's work programme decided by the country governments, is also supported by several bilateral and multilateral donors. Organisations such as The World Bank, Parley for the Oceans, the Royal Governments of Norway, Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), UNEP-GPA office in The Hague, Regional Seas Programme of UNEP and its outreach office in AIT, Bangkok, IMO, ESCAP and many others. 

SACEP has established close working relations and collaboration with other governmental and non-governmental organisations and private sectors to complement and supplement national efforts for the protection of the environment and for achieving goals of sustainable development. These include: United Nations Environment Programme, IMO - the International Maritime Organization,  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,  World Bank, The Asian Development Bank (ADB), The Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES, PARLEY for the Oceans, Bioversity International, International Nitrogen Management System, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).

H. Key achievements

1. A Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management and Resource Circulation in South Asia
2. Regional Marine Litter Action Plan for South Asia - 2019
3. Regional Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Strategy for the South Asian Seas Region – 2019.
4. Post 2015 South Asia Development Agenda
5. SACEP, with assistance from the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management Project, implemented a ‘Controlling Nutrient Loading and Eutrophication of Coastal Waters of the South Asian Seas Region’ project in 2014, to reduce and control nutrient loading into the coastal waters of the SAS region through the development of a Regional Action Plan and Policy Framework.
6. SASP, in partnership with UN Environment, initiated activities to develop a South Asia Regional Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Strategy – with the aim of strengthening the capacity for updating National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, fostering collaboration, identifying and addressing challenges that require regional solutions, and engaging other stakeholders. The strategy document was finalised??
7. SACEP, in partnership with the IMO and with financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, has developed the National and Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan for the SASP region. The plan encourages cooperative mechanisms for preparedness, early warning, response and rehabilitation in the event of oil spill incidents.
8. SACEP, with financial and technical support from IMO and the GEF–UNDP– IMO GloBallast Partnerships Programme, is working to prepare a regional strategy and set up a Task Force to address Ballast Water Management in SAS region.

I. Interesting Facts about South Asia

1. The region has one of the world's finest coral ecosystems, with atolls constituting the entire country of Maldives. 
2. The region covers almost one twentieth of the earth’s surface and provides a home for about one fifth of the world population.
3. South Asia is home to one of the oldest civilizations of the world.
4. South Asia has been the cradle of several great civilizations and is today home to about 1.5 trillion people, more than one-fifth of the world’s population.
5. South Asia is home to 14% of the world’s remaining mangrove forests and the Sundarbans found between Bangladesh and India is one of the largest continuous mangroves stretch in the world.
6. 6% of the world’s coral reefs are in the South Asian seas. The atolls of Maldives and Lakshadweep islands of the region, are biodiversity rich marine habitats.
7. Hindu Kush Himalayan belt is home to over 25,000 major plant species, comprising 10% of the world’s flora.
8. The region is prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and landslides.

Contact us

South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP)
146/24A, Havelock Road,
Colombo 05
Sri Lanka
Tel : +94 11 2596443 / 2596442
Fax: +94 11 2589369
E-mail : info@sacep.org / secretariat@sacep.org

Website: http://www.sacep.org/