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The island of Sainte Marie in Madagascar is home to exceptional biodiversity, including 800 hectares of coastal rainforest, 357 species of vascular plants (49 of which are endangered) and a remarkable diversity of fauna, including a new species of nocturnal lemur. Its coastline boasts a remarkable…

Over the past several years, Bangladesh has made great strides towards a global awareness of the importance of marine conservation, and the country has taken seriously its international obligations to protect its marine and coastal areas. With the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS),…

Restoration ecology is an emerging branch of environmental science. Over the past 20 years, restoration actions have been increasingly conducted around the world. Restoration ecology is expected to become one of the most important areas of conservation science in the 21st century. However, these…

The World Bank estimates that the cost associated with the mismanagement of fisheries is approximately 83 billion dollars per year. This estimation is based exclusively on the loss of fisheries’ yields due to overfishing and the collapse of stocks and does not take into account the broader…

The oceans and the services provided by their ecosystems are coming under growing pressure from human activities. The oceans are home to 15% of the world’s biodiversity, and 90% of coastal populations depend on them for their survival. And yet 90% of stocks of commercial fish species have…

Artificial reefs made using a 3D printer were immersed in the Larvotto Marine Protected Area in 2017. The use of 3D printing made it possible to mimic the complexity of natural habitats while employing an ecologically responsible material, Dolomite sand. To measure the effectiveness of these reefs,…

Inhambane Province in Mozambique is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks and manta rays can be found all year round. These endangered giants of the oceans gather in this biodiversity ‘hotspot’, attracting international visitors every year. However, the drastic decline…

Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) are considered a top priority species for the establishment of conservation strategies. Sadly, in 2019 the IUCN was obliged to upgrade its conservation status as being “critically endangered” due to the continuous decline in global populations. To…

The project is located on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, the 3rd largest reef nation after Indonesia and Australia. Located within the Coral Triangle, in the richest reef area in the world, with over 80% of the world's coral species, the Philippine region is also the most endangered…

©P. Mondielli The project consists in offering support for the activities of the Small Isalnd Organisation with regard to its technical support programme for effective waste management. The association provides technical support and champion concrete efforts among local players in 5 small…

©NOAA This project seeks to take advantage of momentum that has developed over the last three years to advance creation of an ecologically connected network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the context of integrated, ecosystem-based management of emerging human industrial activity in the…

©WWF-E_Parker If the 2017 ICCAT stock assessment confirms that eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks are close to or at the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), the fishery would need to be transitioned from a recovery to a management plan to secure a long term adequate management…

©CSI Gaiola onlus MedPAN wishes to support the managers of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by providing them with the resources necessary to carry out concrete action in the field, thanks to a Call for Small Projects geared towards Mediterranean MPAs and their partners, for the…

Cambodia's waters support an incredible array of species and habitats including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, extensive mangrove forests, and marine turtles. However, they face severe threats from a range of factors, principally Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. FFI has…

©Jim-Beaudoin Posidonia meadows are found almost all around Corsica covering a surface area of 55 230 ha. Two Posidonia meadow monitoring networks have been set up in Corsica: the RSP (Réseau de Surveillance Posidonie) and the TEMPO network (Monitoring of Posidonia meadows using…

Mohéli Marine Park (PMM) was created on 19 April 2001 by a decree issued by the President of the Union of the Comoros, in accordance with the provisions of the framework law on the environment. This decree was amended, which led to the creation of the Mohéli National Park (PNM) in…

Over-exploitation of wild-fish stocks by traditional small-scale fisheries threatens coastal ecosystems and communities throughout the tropics. Locally-managed marine areas (LMMAs) are a promising tool for linking marine conservation with local management, but their widespread uptake and…

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are havens for wildlife and marine flora, as well as a critical tool to help preserve biodiversity and the Arctic marine ecosystems, which are being overwhelmed. To date, only a miniscule part of the Arctic marine environment is protected (whereas about 8% of the…

Following up on the 2012 Forum of Mediterranean MPAs (Antalya, Turkey), the second edition of the Forum of Mediterranean MPAs was held from 28 November to 1 December 2016 in Tangier, Morocco. Three hundred delegates from 35 countries attended this meeting which took place at the Kenzi Solazur hotel…

Palau’s waters are home to 1,300 reef fish species. The government of Palau started by establishing a chain of 21 protected sanctuaries and then the first shark sanctuary in 2009. It also implemented the Micronesia Challenge, a regional initiative aiming at protecting 30% of near-shore…

The project introduces and develops the concept and practice of “sustainable tourism” in the tourism industry of Palau, a small archipelago located between Caroline islands and the Philippines. The main goal of this project is to raise awareness in the tourism sector about the fragility…

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Polar Programme, the World Heritage Marine Programme (WHMP), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) International Oceans Program propose a joint project to build on previous work by IUCN and NRDC to identify ecologically and…

2015 – 2017 The project is composed by three main activities. The first activity is aimed at performing a quantitative synthesis of the ecological and socio-economic performances of Mediterranean MPAs, and at identifying the existing gaps. One major gap concerns the organizational…

Cambodia's waters support a rich and abundant marine life including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, extensive mangrove forests and key species such as the critically endangered hawksbill turtle. Tragically, due to years of political turmoil and decades of economic instability, there is a lack of…

Phase I: 2011 - 2012 In order to improve the management of Marine Protected Areas, the MedPAN network is launching a call for small-scale projects among the managers of MPAs in the Mediterranean Basin to support the implementation of concrete field projects. The network also plans to set up…

© C.Siccardi Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are sanctuaries for ocean wildlife and an important tool to help maintain the biodiversity and resilience of Arctic marine ecosystems as they face profound changes. Only a tiny fraction of the Arctic marine environment has been protected to date (in…

© NOAA Phase I: 2012 - 2014 The entire planet is concerned by climate change. The Arctic is the epicentre of climate change because this region warms up twice as quickly as the rest of the planet. The Foundation and the NRDC have set up a project to manage ecosystems in the Arctic Ocean and…

After supporting the Tara Ocean’s 2009-2012 expeditions and Oceans Polar Circle 2013, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is backing Tara for its Mediterranean mission taking place from May to November 2014. The scientific component of this mission concerns the issue of plastic at sea.…

The aim of this project is to analyse the relationship between aqua-culture and Marine Protected Areas and the possibility of their co-existence and integration. The project also proposes carrying out this analysis taking into account the various types of aquaculture (fish and cages, bivalve…

In June 2012, during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20), governments made an important decision to initiate negotiations to develop an international instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that would enable Marine Protected…

The coastal and marine ecosystems of Nosy Be, situated in north-western Madagascar, boast exceptional biodiversity, making it a priority region for conservation. An assessment of the impact of climate change conducted by scientists working for the Wildlife Conservation Society showed the high…

© Sarah Miles The seas and oceans are increasingly subjected to multiple human pressures which results in significant degradation to marine ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, decreased fish stocks, as well as pollution. Marine Protected Areas are an effective management tool to stop the global…

March 2013 The Scandola Reserve, created in 1975, has been protected by the Corsican population for 38 years. Today, this reserve is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but has become a sanctuary jeopardised by all the media coverage it receives. The film "Une réserve, des hommes:…

This international interdisciplinary workshop brought together economic and scientific experts with the aim of identifying measures and the way of sustainably managing the Antarctic ecosystems, and determining the areas whose ecological and biological potential should be considered important for…

“A sea between lands” - as its name implies, the Mediterranean is like a huge lake, a melting pot of cultures and the cradle of western civilisation. It is a strategic location, thanks to its extremely jagged coastline and its favourable climate explain both its importance in the…

To support community management of the Helen Reef atoll in Palau’s Hatohobei State as a marine conservation area, CI and partners are developing a long-term marine conservation agreement (MCA) defining community commitments to natural resource management in exchange for direct incentives…

Lancaster Sound is an arm of Baffin Bay and an important passage through the Arctic Archipelago located in Northern Canada's territory (Northwest Passage). Due to a complex topography and the circulation of ocean currents, this upwelling zone is rich in nutrients and is one of the most…

The purpose of the MedPAN network is to promote exchange between Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas in order to improve the efficiency of the management of these territories. The goal of this project is to carry out a study on the state and trends of the Mediterranean Marine Protected Area…

The Raja Ampat archipelago in the North West of Papua New Guinea stretches more than 5 million hectares and consists of nearly 1,500 islands. The aim is to rally the local population to preserve their magnificent environment by launching a floating educational centre for marine conservation. A boat…

Phase I: 2010 – 2013 The aim of this project is to develop public and governmental support for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) covering the entire continental shelf and slope of the Ross Sea, which is approximately 2% of the Southern Ocean. The goal of this project is to…

The Scotia Sea and the seas surrounding South Georgia form a unique ecosystem in the Southern Ocean. South Georgia Island, a British Overseas territory with a land area of 3,755 km2, has a varied subantarctic-type fauna, although it lies to the south of the polar front. This region provides…

This UNESCO conference was focused on two goals: - to promote the classification of the Arctic as a world heritage site - to highlight the specific dependence of the indigenous people whose resources exclusively derive from their environment The conclusions and recommendations were forwarded, for…

The Toliara Reef Complex consists of many rich habitats, including barrier reefs, fringing reefs, grass weed, mangroves and lagoons. The preliminary results of relatively recent studies carried out along the reef show the significance of increasing pressure by local players, in particular the…