The Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project is operational

The eight countries involved in the project are some of the most populous in the world. Over 400 million people live in the Bay of Bengal area and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Most of these people are poor and rely heavily on the marine resources which are being affected by overfishing, removal or degradation of important marine habitats, and pollution.

The Project became operational in April this year and the Regional Coordinator, Dr Chris O’Brien and the Chief Technical Officer, Dr Rudolf Hermes are now in place at the FAO Offices in Bangkok. A range of research and workshop activities are expected to commence in each country in the very near future. The Project is expected to draw on the considerable expertise and experience that exists in the many and varied regional bodies and organizations that operate in the area and the project team are very interested to hear from any potential collaborators.

The BOBLME Project is funded principally by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Norway (NORAD), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations (FAO), participating Governments and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of the USA with a total estimated budget of $USD 31 million. FAO is the executing agency.
 
The BOBLME Project will be contributing to the IW Learn network and you will be able to track its progress on the IW Learn website.

For more information: visit the Project website: www.boblme.org, or contact the Regional Coordinator on chris.obrien@fao.org.