The 2022 MPA Day is fast approaching on 1st August 2022! Africa’s first ever Marine Protected Area Day was held on the 1st of August 2021 in South Africa and the organisers are looking forward to an even bigger event, with celebrations happening across all MPAs in the WIO region. Would you like to celebrate the day in
A WIOMSA Introductory Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Management training course was presented at Rhodes University in South Africa in May. This was the first MPA management short course to be offered by WIOMSA in partnership with the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science at Rhodes University. Course participants who successfully complete the post-course assignment will
The third OIC Call for Proposals was launched on 10 February 2022 and closes on 29 April 2022, 23:59 CET. From plastics and nutrient pollution to overfishing to climate change, two-thirds of the global ocean is considered to have been negatively impacted by human activities. To recover and benefit from the broad range of ecosystem services the
November 29, 2021—Today the government of Portugal expanded a marine protected area around the Selvagens Islands, creating the largest fully protected marine reserve in Europe at 2,677 square kilometers. The Selvagens Islands are a small archipelago in the North Atlantic located midway between Madeira and the Canary Islands. National Geographic Pristine Seas studied the Selvagens
With the longest coastline and one of the largest ocean jurisdictions in the world, Canada is home to some of the most productive and diverse marine ecosystems on the planet. Yet this rich marine biodiversity, on which our own health and well-being depends, is being degraded at an unprecedented and accelerating rate. Marine protected areas
The Kiribati government has announced it will open up one of the world’s largest marine protected areas to commercial fishing, citing economic benefits to its people. The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) spans 408,250 sq km (157,626 sq miles) – an area about the size of California – and was created in 2006 with the entire area
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an important tool for protecting and conserving marine ecosystems and their associated services in the long term. However, MPAs require proper management to achieve their conservation objectives. In our new position paper, we explain how Member States should make their pledges to meet the targets of the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy to achieve
The disastrous nurdle spill resulting from the May 2021 fire onboard the MV X-PRESS Pearl off the coast of Sri Lanka led to extensive discussions about environment protection — particularly concerning marine and coastal conservation. Unfortunately, the focus has largely been on the specific event and less on the bigger picture — the combined impact of the worsening climate crisis
A NEW STUDY FOUND THAT CLIMATE CHANGE WILL ALTER FAMILIAR OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS, WHILE CREATING NEW ONES AND UNDERMINING EXISTING CONSERVATION EFFORTS. Climate change is altering the ocean at an alarming pace. This is nothing new. A new study, however, published in the journal One Earth and conducted by experts at the Oregon State University, has found out
Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Areas Management Network – WIOMPAN will be at the inaugural IUCN African Parks Congress in Rwanda in March 2022! Arthur Tuda, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA); John Komakoma, Marine Parks and Reserves Unit, Tanzania and Warden Dadley K Tsiganyiu, Kenya Wildlife Service will be presenting on the use
