Kenya Wildlife Service and Tanzania’s Marine Parks and Reserve Unit with the support of WIOMSA and WCS-Kenya, held multi-stakeholder engagement meetings on both sides of the Kenya-Tanzania border to define the conservation vision, values, and targets for the proposed Kenya-Tanzania transboundary marine conservation area (TBCA).
The goal of the two workshops, held on November 3rd and 4th, 2021 in Diani, Kenya, and November 11th and 12th, 2021 in Tanga, Tanzania, was to engage relevant stakeholders and communities in the identification of conservation priority values in the proposed TBCA and to develop a shared vision for the TBCA. Stakeholders were chosen to represent a diverse range of interests, primarily resource users, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies operating in the Kenya-Tanzania transboundary marine area.
At the conclusion of both meetings, stakeholders agreed on a set of key words that will guide the development of the vision, as well as the different values for marine ecosystems and habitats. Stakeholders also expressed preferences for the proportions of ecosystems and habitats to be protected in the TBCA. The identification of stakeholders’ values and conservation target preferences will aid in the improvement of the TBCA systematic conservation planning process, which will consider multiple stakeholder interests, values, and perceptions, as well as the stakeholders’ shared vision.