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This study spans the countries bordering the Indian Ocean from East Africa across South Asia and includes countries in Southeast Asia and island states in the Indian Ocean. Almost all are developing countries, and some are least developed countries (LDCs) where poverty is a problem. The coasts and coastal resources play significant roles in the region: a large percentage of the population lives in the coastal areas, and many people are dependent on coastal and marine resources as their primary protein source and for their livelihood. In many countries, it is often the poor—largely as squatters—who live in the most exposed, low-lying coastal areas. At the same time, many coasts have been degradedby exploitive activities such as the removal of mangroves, the destruction of coral reefs by blast fishing, erosion from coastal development, and poor land management. Some coastal areas are subject to cyclones and flooding, which is common, for example, in Bangladesh and the Mekong Delta.