José Guerreiro

Governance of Marine Protected Areas in East Africa: A Comparative Study of Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania

Marine protected areas (MPAs), including MPA networks, have become an indispensable tool for marine conservation. This article undertakes a comparative discussion of the domestic governance frameworks of Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania in view of the efforts of these three states to scale up their MPA cooperation in the East African Marine Ecoregion (EAME) to include MPA networks, including transboundary MPAs. Although on many issues there appears to be regional solidarity and convergence on principles, including participatory processes and decision making to guide MPA making, there are significant differences on lead roles, institutional structures, access to public information, and conflict management, among others, which would need to be factored in MPA cooperation. Other important factors for regional MPA cooperation include policy directions on shared concerns such as conservation and development values with emphasis on equitable resource use and poverty alleviation.

Waterborne transmission of Giardia and Cryptosporidium at river beaches in Southern Europe (Portugal).

Giardia and Cryptosporidium are the most frequent enteric protozoa causing gastroenteritis in humans worldwide. Intense recreational activity at Portuguese river beaches triggered the opportunity for a 2-year seasonal survey of 19 large river basin beaches. A total of 74 samples were collected and processed according to USEPA Method 1623 to detect Cryptosporidium and Giardia (oo)cysts. Faecal indicators (thermotolerant/total coliforms, Escherichia coli, and enterococci) and physicochemical parameters were also analysed according to the EU Bath Water Directive (BWD). Results pointed to a widespread presence of these protozoa at Portuguese river beaches. The percentage of samples testing positive for Giardia and Cryptosporidium were 85 and 82% respectively, with no significant differences between wet and dry seasons (p > 0.05). Although Portuguese river beaches present a very low exposure risk for infection with Giardia and Cryptosporidium (under 10(-3)), a few particular cases revealed values over 0.2%, and were related to stormy wet events. The correlation between levels of Giardia and thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli and enterococci, was high (r ≥ 0.87, p < 0.001), suggesting the need to carry out specific procedures for the detection of Giardia and Cryptosporidium whenever the values of those faecal indicators approach the maximum allowed level of the EU BWD.

THE MARITIME ZONES OF EAST AFRICAN STATES IN THE LAW OF THE SEA: BENEFITS GAINED, OPPORTUNITIES MISSED

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (LOS Convention) has been in force since 16 November 1994 and on 10 December 2007, it will be a quarter century since its adoption in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Many African coastal states were among the most active supporters of a new international law of the sea. Indeed, they pre-empted the adoption and entry into force of the LOS Convention by claiming the national maritime zones and jurisdictional benefits conferred by that instrument. For many of those states, the LOS Convention constituted an opportunity to break away from their colonial past and to engage in a new kind of regime-building expected to contribute to the economic and social advancement of all peoples, effectively a new international economic order. The ocean space and marine resources adjacent to the coastal state were perceived as constituting an opportunity to further national economic development. East African states, in particular Kenya and Tanzania, were among the most active in developing a new framework for national maritime zones and the type and extent of authority enjoyed therein by coastal states, and to a much lesser extent, by land-locked states. Twenty-five years hence, it is appropriate to enquire how African states, and in particular East African states, have legislated the maritime zone claims permissible under the LOS Convention to maximise their entitlements while being compliant with the new legal framework. At the time the LOS Convention

Prospects for Transboundary Marine Protected Areas in East Africa

Transboundary marine protected areas have been proposed in East Africa to tackle threats to marine biodiversity, meet international MPA targets, promote tourism, and contribute to poverty reduction. This article examines what may drive, facilitate, or constrain states in creating a regime for transboundary MPAs. In East Africa, a regime between Mozambique and Tanzania is not yet formed and may be indefinitely delayed due to oil prospecting and exploration. There is, however, a well-developed regime between Mozambique and South Africa that has resulted in the two adjoining MPAs being declared the first transboundary MPA on the continent.

Hemispheric asymmetry in holistic processing of words

ABSTRACT Holistic processing has been regarded as a hallmark of face perception, indicating the automatic and obligatory tendency of the visual system to process all face parts as a perceptual unit rather than in isolation. Studies involving lateralized stimulus presentation suggest that the right hemisphere dominates holistic face processing. Holistic processing can also be shown with other categories such as words and thus it is not specific to faces or face-like expertize. Here, we used divided visual field presentation to investigate the possibly different contributions of the two hemispheres for holistic word processing. Observers performed same/different judgment on the cued parts of two sequentially presented words in the complete composite paradigm. Our data indicate a right hemisphere specialization for holistic word processing. Thus, these markers of expert object recognition are domain general.