Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene May -June 2017 | Page 20

2017
The Ocean Is Not a Dumping Ground
By Nasseem Ackbarally
Nasseem Ackbarally interviews the President of Mauritius,
AMEENAH GURIB-FAKIM
Human activity has already left a huge footprint on the
world’s oceans, Gurib-Fakim notes. “We have always
assumed that the ocean is a dumping ground – which it is
not.”
Excerpts from the interview follow.
Q: How would you rate the oceans in terms
of importance in the context of sustainable
development?
President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. Credit: Nasseem
Ackbarally/IPS
P
ORT-LOUIS, Mauritius, Apr 19 2017 (IPS) - An
internationally renowned scientist, Ameenah
Gurib-Fakim became Mauritius’s sixth president on
June 5, 2015 – and one of the few Muslim women heads
of state in the world.
Her nomination constituted a major event in the
island’s quest for greater gender parity and women’s
empowerment, giving a higher profile to women in the
public and democratic sphere of Mauritius.
Gurib-Fakim started her career in 1987 as a lecturer at
the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius. She
was one of the leading figures in local academia with
a reputation far beyond the Indian Ocean before she
accepted the post of president.
She has also served in different capacities in numerous
local, regional and international organizations. Gurib-
Fakim has lectured extensively and authored or co-edited
26 books and numerous academic articles on biodiversity
conservation and sustainable development.
In this exclusive interview with IPS, President Gurib-
Fakim urged world leaders to save our oceans, noting
that this critical ecosystem impacts millions of
livelihoods, particularly for small island-states and coastal
communities.
This June, the United Nations will convene a high-level
Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable
Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use
the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development at U.N. Headquarters in New York.
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May - June 2017
A: The ocean space occupies 70 percent of the world’s
surface and it still remains unknown. There is no doubt
that ocean space impacts livelihood, especially for islands
and coastal communities. Several countries in the South-
West Indian Ocean, for example, rely heavily on fishing to
sustain livelihoods. In 2013, fish accounted for 17 percent
of the world population’s intake of animal protein and 6.7
percent of all protein consumed. Coral-reef fish species
also represent an important source of protein.
With more than 60 percent of the world’s economic
output taking place near coastlines and in some African
countries, the ocean economy contributes 25 percent of
the revenues and over 30 percent of export revenues. It is
becoming increasingly clear the enormous potential of our
oceans.
Q: Do you think that the objectives of the World
Ocean Summit can still reverse the decline in the
health of our ocean for people, planet and prosperity?
A: This Summit brings on board all the stakeholders
involved with ocean issues. This summit is also a pledging
conference as funding always remains a thorny issue and
yet there is urgency in data collection on several areas of
the ocean ecosystems. It provides the policymaker and
the researcher a holistic picture of what the ocean stands
for and will hopefully change the narrative on the need to
reverse the decline of the health of our ocean space.
Climate change remains a big component as acidification
of the waters as well as rise in temperatures will affect
both the flora and fauna.
We must always be mindful to the fact that humans have
had a huge footprint in the health of our oceans as we
have always assumed that the ocean is dumping ground.
It is NOT. There are within the ocean space, very fragile
ecosystems that can be destroyed by small increases in
acidity or temperatures.
Q: As an Ocean State, Mauritius does not seem to
have given due consideration to the importance
of our oceans in terms of an environmental asset.
How would this Ocean Summit help to change our
mindset?