The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) marine was held in Mombasa, Kenya from the 16-17 th September 2004 with support from the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), WCS, WWF and IUCN.

The meeting was organised by KESCOM and hosted by The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).It was attended by 60 persons comprising marine turtle experts and representatives from governmental as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) drawn from seven countries; South Africa, Tanzania,Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Re-Union and Seychelles. The objectives of the meeting were as follows;

• To discuss and adopt a coordination/networking strategy for marine turtle stakeholders in the WIO region
  
• To review national status reports and adopt modalities for the production of a Regional Marine Turtle Status report
• To discuss and adopt a draft proposal focusing on marine turtle research, conservation and management needs for the WIO region
• To discuss components of the draft proposal for submission to WIOMSA for consideration for a Marine Science for Management (MASMA) grant
• To produce proceedings of the WIO Regional Marine turtle workshop
  

Invited experts included Drs. Jack Frazier, Jean Mortimer and Douglas Hycle (also representing the Indian Ocean and South East Asia (IOSEA), Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) on the conservation of marine turtles and thier habitatas).In his opening speech , Dr. Richard Bagine of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) underscored the importance of promoting regional cooperation and the need for follow up action to implement a regional agendafor the conservation and management of marine turtles in the WIO.

Country marine turtle status reports were presented and issues of discussion raised in plenary. A regoinal draft proposalseeking to address gaps in research, conservation and management and regional coordination was presented and discussed. A key outcome of the WIO marine turtle workshop was consensus on the need for a regional coordinating task force.

The Task force, to be known as The Western Indian Ocean IOSEA-MOU MarineTurtle Task Force will operateunder the framework of the CMS/IOSEA MOU but be housed by the Nairobi Convention, thus creating an opportunity for a unique synergy by linking the two international agreements. The Taskforce recommendation will be presented for a formal assent during a Nairobi Convention Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in 2006.

Sodwana Bay Declaration 1995

The meeting which was organized by IUCN-EARO in collaboration with Natal Parks Board, IUCN/SSC-MTSG and CMS brought together representatives of countries of the Western Indian Ocean; Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania mainland, Mozambique, South Africa, the Islands of Comores, Reunion, Mayotte, Seychelles and Mauritius developed a regional strategy for the "Conservation of the sea turtles of the Western Indian Ocean.The meeting was convened under the umbrella of the Global Strategy for the Conservation of Marine Turtles. The output strategy lists actions which need to be taken at local, national and regional levels to conserve sea turtles, but specifically calls for "... management through regional and international cooperation and coordination." Similar recommendations were made in Kenya (1997) and recently in the United Arab Emirates (2000).

The regional strategy which followed the meeting in Sodwana Bay identified three main immediate actions; First, an interim steering committee was elected comprised of individuals from the region who were actively involved in marine turtle conservation activities: Second, it was agreed that 1998 would be declared the "Year of the Sea Turtle for the Indian Ocean". Third, there was a suggestion for the establishment of a regional tagging centre. It is important to note that only one of the three action areas was fully implemented, the declaration of the year of the turtle. Several priority areas such as coordinated research and monitoring and obtaining governments' assent to the regional strategy have not been implemented to date.