The coastline of Eastern Africa is an area of great physical beauty, rich in living resources. Palm fringed beaches of white coral sand lead down to tranquil lagoons enclosed by spectacular coral reefs with their wealth of colorful fish, shells and corals. The area has vast mangrove forests, high coral cliffs, wide stretches of sand dunes, and numerous offshore and oceanic islands. Yet there are problems in paradise—pollution, habitat destruction, and the pressures of growing populations and tourism. To face these common threats to their marine environment, the nine nations of the region are now working together to manage their shared resources and to find regional solutions to their problems. They are doing this under the auspices of the Eastern African Region, one of the newest of the Regional Seas Programmes initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme.