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The
Human Environment section of the African Marine Atlas displays the multiple
aspects of the socio-economic relationships between man and the marine
environment. The human dimension constitutes pertinent social sciences,
that should inform all phases of management, including socio-economics, political
science, cultural anthropology, legal studies, and geography.
The growth in population and population density, as well as the
rate of urban and industrial development have accelerated considerably in
the last few decades. In many urban areas the marine environment is adversely
affected by discarding domestic and industrial waste, and by physically alteration
its coastline and critical habitats through direct coastal engineering works.
While knowledge and sound scientific information guide in devising effective
policies, political and economic factors determine whether or not the wisdom
accumulating in our laboratories and libraries will be put into practice.
A suite of basic spatially-enabled products together with
necessary metadata have been put together as tools to assist in qualitative and
quantitative comparisons of socio-political and environmental entities,
and as tools for further analysis of consequences of activities and/or
formulation of management options. These products range from
administrative boundaries, population distribution, infrastructural developments
and socio-economics.
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Geopolitical -
The geopolitical aspects of the marine environment refer to several
multi-sectoral scenarios that includes such as areas as country boundaries (Land)
and State Maritime
boundaries, treaties
within the Economic Exclusive Zones, shipping routes, military zones,
fishing zones, offshore mining areas, mariculture areas and designated
dumping sites. Others important features include marine cables, pipelines,
aids to navigation as well as existing natural and man-made marine wrecks
and obstructions. |
- Population -
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent
after Asia. With more than 900 million people (as of 2005 UN/DESA
statistics) it accounts for about 14% of the world's human population.
The last 40 years have seen a rapid increase in population. Over the past
two decades, Africa’s coastal cities -centers of trade and commerce - have
been growing by 4% a year or more, drawing people inevitably out of the
countryside. Cities such as Lagos, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Accra, Abidjan
and Dakar have seen their populations explode from in-migration, with
settlements next to the seafront. Other
important coastal cities include Cairo, Kinshasa, Alexandria, and
Casablanca.
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- Infrastructure
- The effectiveness of ports, transport and telecommunications networks, the
electricity grid and water and drainage systems all impact on commercial
activity. The
infrastructure of a country directly affect a country's economic vitality and quality of
life. It can increase productivity, reduce the cost of
production, increase trade and reduce poverty. A country's physical infrastructure links, transport people and goods and
provide services within the country and beyond its borders.
Terrestrial high-speed
fibre optic network, long-haul submarine cables and
telecommunications satellites provide the vital infrastructure that wires
the world together.
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Industry & Commerce
- Commerce refers to trade, business, transactions, exchange of
products/services and money especially on a large scale between different
countries (foreign commerce) or between different parts of the same country
(domestic commerce). Industry denotes any business that produces goods or
provides services in technically productive enterprises involved in
manufacturing and production in a particular field. Such include the work
and related activities in factories, industries and organizations which are
often named after their principal product e.g. steel industry, Tiomin
mining, shipping industry, farming (seaweeds, oysters, coconuts, cashew
nuts) etc.
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- Hospitality
& Tourism - Tourism and hospitality
is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes,
and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act.
Tourism has become an extremely popular, global activity. As a service
industry, tourism has numerous tangible and intangible elements. Major
tangible elements include transportation, accommodation, and other
components of a hospitality industry. Tourism is vital for many
countries, due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and
services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism
industry, and the opportunity for employment and economic advancement by
working in the industry. The
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international
tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of
4 %, although Africa may experience a growth rate of 5% per year.
Most tourists are know to visit the lucrative bathing and surfing
beaches, marinas, diving and sporting locations. For information on
tourist target areas visit the marine and terrestrial
protected
areas.
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