UNEP-Nairobi Convention and WIOMSA. 2021. Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Areas Outlook: Towards achievement of the Global Biodiversity Framework Targets

Abstract

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is renowned for the richness of its marine biodiversity, especially that associated with the region’s widespread coral reef systems. The mangroves, seagrasses, rocky and sandy shorelines with associated dune systems and coastal forests, and the deep-sea features such as seamounts, ridges and abyssal plains also contribute substantially to the biodiversity of the region. The innumerable islets and atolls scattered across the WIO also support extraordinary biodiversity, including vast numbers of often rare, endemic and endangered marine species. This rich marine biodiversity supports burgeoning coastal populations both directly, through the provision of a variety of marine resources and vital ecosystem services such as coastal protection, and indirectly, through the opportunities it provides for economic growth through sectors such as fisheries, tourism, infrastructure development and others. However, the marine resources are coming under increasing pressure in the coastal areas through the escalating needs of the local populations, exacerbated by the use of illegal fishing techniques, such as “blast” or dynamite fishing and the use of poisons, and in deeper waters from the legal and illegal harvesting of vast quantities of resources by international commercial fishing fleets. The tourism sector that brings benefits to coastal communities is in many places damaging the very resources the tourists wish to enjoy. In addition, interest in mineral resources including oil and gas reserves, found under the seabed, is exacerbating pressure on coastal ecosystems. Developing coastal nations in the WIO region, particularly those faced with financial constraints, are keen to exploit mineral resources for the benefit of their populations, leading to an exponential increase in the issuing of prospecting and extraction rights. To these pressures are added increased levels of land and sea-based pollution, sedimentation from silt-laden rivers, and extensive coastal development; together with the increasingly evident impacts of climate change including sea-level rise, ocean warming and acidification, and increased frequency and intensity of storm events. If the twin threat from coastal development and climaterelated pressure, is left unmitigated, with no protection afforded to the marine and coastal systems, there is every likelihood that the marine biodiversity of the WIO region would be irreversibly compromised. The consequential impacts on the livelihoods of coastal communities, and the well-being of the populations across the region, are likely to have long-term and negative ramifications on the national economies of the coastal states.