Marine Programme Manager, East Africa, Fauna & Flora International

Brief presentation for Partnerships Day for WIO-C: FFI’s Approach and Activities in the Western Indian Ocean

Kate England

Marine Programme Manager, East Africa, Fauna & Flora International

19th June 2015

Mahe, Seychelles

FFI’s mission is to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs.Our marine programme approaches this through collaboration with partners, novel solutions adapted to local contexts, shared learning, a lean structure that allows us to intervene quickly, and a focus on social equity to achieve marine conservation outcomes. The main objectives of our marine programme are to 1) Safeguard species, livelihoods, and habitats through effective management of marine ecosystems, 2) Tackle wider threats to species and habitats through improved policy and practice, and 3) Empower local stakeholders to protect key marine environments. Priority actions we have and are currently undertaking in the WIO are:

-Supporting accountable governance and surveillance/enforcement in the WIO since 2009in the creation of 7 Community-Conserved Areas on the South Coast of Kenya, betweenShimoni and Vanga,with the East African Wildlife Society and State Department of Fisheries, Kwale County. Since 2014, initiated this process in Tanzaniawith Mwambao Coastal Community Network and the Department of Fisheries Development of Pemba to support Village Fisher Committees in undertaking effective governance and surveillance of the Pemba Channel Conservation Area, and with Mwambao and SmartFish/Indian Ocean Commission on comanagement of octopus at a pilot site in KisiwaPanza, Pemba.

-Facilitating capacity-building and investment in marine resource management institutions through our longstanding partnership with East African Wildlife Society in Kenya and a new partnership with Mwambao Coastal Community Network in Tanzania to empower local communities to act as stewards of the marine environment, to revise and enact by-laws for marine governance, equip authorities with tools to measure the impacts and outcomes of their activities, and improve capacity of relevant groups to manage and respond to changes in marine resources and the forces affecting them

-In northern Mozambique, we are working with key companies from the oil and gas sector to help them understand the risks that their operations pose to marine biodiversity and ecosystem services, and to adopt and apply best practices to avoid and minimise impacts. Part of this work involves the development of a mechanism to allow more effective investment by companies to support national marine conservation priorities and locally led conservation action (to be tested at a number of LMMA sites with ZSL).

-Working to improve fisheries policy and practice at a local site level through the participatory development of by-laws and legislative measures to enact co-management agreements in Kenya and Pemba, and at the national level through the development of a Ring Net Fishery Management Plan in Kenya.

-Supporting livelihood enhancement in ten sites between Funzi and Vanga on the South Coast of Kenya, on the development of small business initiatives and/or seaweed mariculture on a context-specific basis, employing the Sustainable Livelihoods Enhancement and Diversification approach to empower communities to take leadership over the process.