The Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Areas Management Network (WIOMPAN) is pleased to announce the release of a video: WIOMPAN Marine Practitioners in Action. The video demonstrates how the network is raising the capacity of Marine Protected Area (MPA) and other effective conservation measures (OECMs) practitioners across the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
Area-based protection, through MPAs and OECMs can help to maintain ecosystem health and productivity, while safeguarding social and economic development. The coverage of MPAs and OECMs have grown rapidly in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region in the last decade, with now about 8% of WIO’s EEZ being under MPAs and OECMS/ community managed areas (CMAs).
In the WIO, 143 MPAs and more than 300 CMAs protect marine biodiversity and sustain coastal communities’ food and income. MPAs and CMAs are expected to increase in the WIO region as Nations of the WIO have pledged to protect more marine areas 2030 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Various regional initiatives are already being developed to support the movement toward GBF goals e.g., the WIO Great Blue Wall which aims to conserve, protect and restore 2 million hectares of ocean and coastal ecosystems by 2030.
While the WIO countries work to expand MPA and CMA coverage, a more pressing need is to bring existing MPAs and CMAs under effective management. MPAs in the WIO are made effective by a host of practitioners including managers, wardens, rangers, community members and others.
These practitioners are faced with a multitude of different situations, issues and problems on a daily basis, often in remote locations, without easy reference to sources of information or help. There are a number of tools to help MPA practitioners share solutions and lessons that have already been developed in the WIO, including many publications and MPA toolkits. But the most valuable way to share knowledge is through peer-to-peer networking, and MPA practitioners’ networks are recognised as a cornerstone of MPA performance, hence the establishment of the WIOMPAN Network in 2021.
WIOMPAN, provides a mechanism to enable resource managers to come together, directly experience and learn from one another and share lessons learned, while setting new standards for the management of MPAs in the WIO region. WIOMPAN brings together MPA practitioners from the 10 Nairobi Convention countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Somalia, Madagascar and Reunion (France). The network works with over 100 MPAs and 100 LMMAs as part of a large networking and partnership approach. It primarily consists of MPA and CMA practitioners from various MPA management bodies (government and non-governmental organizations), as well as CMA leaders.
Watch the Video here: https://youtu.be/58HjxNyM8jk