Transition to ecosystem-based governance of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem

• Angola, Namibia and South Africa signed a landmark LME convention in 2013.
• The three countries have adopted a multi-sectorial ecosystem-based governance.
• All key ocean sectors are collaborating in sustainable development of the BCLME.
• There is a strong political support for ocean governance in the region.
• Partnership and collaboration is evident in the BCLME.

The signing of the Benguela Current Convention in March 2013 ushered in a new era of south–south collaboration between the three southern African countries of Angola, Namibia and South Africa towards the ecosystem-based governance of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). The three developing countries have collaborated since the 1990s to develop a common vision for improved understanding and management of the priority transboundary environmental problems that threaten the resilience and robustness of the BCLME. What started with modest scientific collaboration developed organically into a holistic approach to ocean management; this was as a result of consistent support from the governments of the three countries and a number of development partners. The result is the signing and ratification of the Benguela Current Convention – the first legal framework in the world to be based on the LME approach to ocean governance. This paper traces the genesis of collaboration between the three BCLME countries in the adoption and implementation of the LME approach to ocean governance.