Abstract
In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), local communities are increasingly assuming responsibility for inshore marine resources either on their own or through collaborative management arrangements with governments or non-state actors. In this paper, we trace the evolution and expansion of community management in the WIO and present the first ever inventory and assessment of the region’s locally managed marine areas (LMMAs). We compare the key attributes of these areas to those under government stewardship and assess their relative contributions to progress towards the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) target of 10% of marine and coastal ecological regions to be effectively conserved by 2020. We also explore the legal frameworks that underpin locally managed marine initiatives in Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania to assess the potential for future expansion. A principal finding is that whilst LMMAs protect more than 11,000 square kilometres of marine resource in the WIO, they are hampered by underdeveloped local and national legal structures and enforcement mechanisms. In our recommendations to improve local management, we suggest establishing a network of LMMA practitioners in the WIO region to share experiences and best practice.
Highlights
Despite their value to humans, marine ecosystems worldwide are threatened by a range of anthropogenic pressures, including pollution, habitat loss, climate change and overfishing [1,2,3]
The combined area of these new parks alone is more than 100,000 km2, constituting more than 84% of the total Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) coverage in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region
Mozambique (19.9%) has achieved the target, primarily due to recent designation of Primeiras and Segundas MPA, whilst Madagascar is on course to do so, should the Barren Isles locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) be established as scheduled in 2014
Summary
Despite their value to humans, marine ecosystems worldwide are threatened by a range of anthropogenic pressures, including pollution, habitat loss, climate change and overfishing [1,2,3]. These impacts have drained populations of culturally and economically important fish stocks and reduced structural complexity of various marine communities across a rich range of habitats, species and trophic levels [3,4,5]. In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) as throughout the world, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been a primary management approach in attempts to alleviate anthropogenic pressures [6]. MPAs can play an important role in climate change adaptation, enhancing ecosystem resilience and protecting vital ecosystem services [13,14]
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