Marine Conservation Success in Africa Could Serve as Model Worldwide

Nothing about ocean conservation is easy. Every step – from idea to commitment to protected area financing, design, implementation and enforcement – requires persistence, coordination and collaboration. So when most of the world’s governments committed in 2022 to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030, they were rightly lauded for their high ambition. Now, four years later, the focus is shifting to delivering on that commitment: Are new marine protections in place, effectively managed and sufficiently financed? And is this conservation being led – as it should be – by the local communities most affected by these decisions?

Some encouraging answers to these questions are emerging from Africa, which for the first time will host the annual Our Ocean Conference, 16-18 June in Mombasa, Kenya.

For example, the government of Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands, has already protected more than 30% of its waters. The country achieved this in part through a 2015 debt conversion – the first sovereign one designed solely for marine protection – and an equally innovative bond issuance, also dedicated to ocean protection.

Today, the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust is working with the government and partners – including The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Blue Nature Alliance, a collaboration led by Pew, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, Minderoo Foundation and the Rob Walton Foundations – to stand up governance bodies, complete management plans and build surveillance and monitoring capacity. Such follow-through is a model for moving from pioneering financing to effective, community-led ocean protection that also supports working fisheries and local cultures.

In the Gulf of Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo co-created a transboundary marine park along one of the most biodiverse stretches of African coastline. Supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Blue Nature Alliance, and national partners, the governments are working to strengthen management of the park and establish ocean conservation areas. The area is home to the largest leatherback turtle nesting grounds on the continent and more than 70 species of sharks and rays. The Wildlife Conservation Society, an international nonprofit, has worked in this region for three decades, building the deep trust needed to collaborate effectively with the Gabon and Republic of Congo governments.

And along islands of the Western Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, where roughly 60 million people live within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the shore, the Blue Nature Alliance – working with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, a regional ocean-focused nonprofit organization, and a range of local partners – is supporting community-led management of nearly 190,000 square kilometres of ocean, which includes existing marine protected areas. Part of this work involves mapping seagrass meadows, along with training and exchanges of experts and staff.

This region is also recognizing the value of coastal habitats, and the importance of having the data and capacity to protect them. Worldwide, seagrass meadows, mangroves and salt marshes are the only coastal ecosystems that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognizes for measurable carbon storage. They also buffer storms, hold shorelines in place and provide nursery, habitat and feeding grounds for 20% of the world’s largest fisheries.

Comprehensive mapping data has already helped the Seychelles government to protect its seagrass meadows. That in turn has inspired a region-wide project, called the Large-Scale Seagrass Mapping and Management Initiative, to produce standardized seagrass maps and carbon assessment in each country, and to expand capacity in seagrass science broadly. Pew is working on that project with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, the University of Southampton and national research institutions across Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania (including Zanzibar).

These examples help illustrate the elements of successful conservation: national governments working with local groups, scientific experts, international organizations and regional bodies on protections that help people and nature.

With 2030 on the horizon, the next four years will determine whether governments around the world can follow the models that are yielding results and meet their own ambitious commitments. The Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa offers a chance for world leaders to learn from each other about what’s working, and to redouble their focus on turning a vision for a better future into reality.

Tom Dillon is a senior vice president with The Pew Charitable Trusts, leading the organization’s work on conservation and environment initiatives around the world.