Quirimbas Hopespot
©Mark Ziembicki
The Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), in partnership with Blue Nature Alliance (BNA) will be hosting a workshop on Marine Protected Area (MPA) Finance in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The workshop will be held on 11th – 14th September 2023 at Hemingways, Watamu, Kenya. The workshop will bring together 30 participants including decision and policy makers, MPA site managers, non-state actors and development partners. While MPAs are places where the blue economy can thrive, marine managers are typically trained in natural resource management and lack business acumen to diversify and cultivate income generating activities and other progressive fundraising methodologies. Considering economic and social benefits such as enhancing livelihoods, and economic opportunities associated with effective marine protected area management is of utmost importance. In the past 10 years, there has been a steep uptick in the progressive application of traditional and contemporary finance models to sustain MPA management, yet opportunities to transfer knowledge and receive practical guidance in this complex space are limited. To address this issue, this four- day workshop has been organized for participants to explore various funding mechanisms as well as learn about opportunities, methodologies, and approaches to conservation finance, as well as explore local alternatives for generating funds for protected area management.
The specific objectives of the workshop are to:
- facilitate a two-way interactive exchange to help shift the mindset of marine managers to “start thinking‘business’.
- elevate and learn from others Conservation Finance experiences for financing MPAs.
- share opportunities, methods, and approaches to Conservation Finance
- explore local solutions for generating income for protected area management
- apply new learning and facilitate managers through the finance journey to generate solutions for their own MPAs.