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Locally-managed marine areas: multiple objectives and diverse strategies

Community-based management and co-management are mainstream approaches to marine conservation and sustainable resource management. In the tropical Pacific, these approaches have proliferated through locally-managed marine areas (LMMAs). LMMAs have garnered support because of their adaptability to different contexts and focus on locally identified objectives, negotiated and implemented by stakeholders. While LMMA managers may be knowledgeable about their specific sites, broader understanding of objectives, management actions and outcomes of local management efforts remain limited.

The Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT)

The Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT) is a coalition of nature conservation and development organizations, governments, inter-government, donor agencies and community groups created to increase effective conservation action in the Pacific Island Region. It was established in 1998 at the request of Pacific island countries and territories which was voiced at the 6th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in 1997.

Kingdom of Tonga - Special Management Area Report 2020

In 2016 a partnership was developed between the Tongan Ministry of Fisheries and James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Its aim was to implement the first stage of a Tongan national coral reef monitoring project, and to provide an overview of the current status of Tonga’s Special Management Area (SMA) program. Since 2002 the Ministry of Fisheries has been heavily focused on expanding the SMA program, and communities throughout Tonga have been enthusiastic about introducing local marine management. As a result of this momentum, the Ministry has focused primarily on implementation.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Melanesia

WCS “scientists study what wildlife species need to thrive.  With this knowledge we invest in abating threats to wildlife within their most important strongholds and the corridors that connect them.  We target, large, iconic, wide-ranging species because of their intrinsic value and because they are vital to ecosystem health.  By saving them, we protect all other biodiversity that shelters under their conservation canopy.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Melanesia

WCS “scientists study what wildlife species need to thrive.  With this knowledge we invest in abating threats to wildlife within their most important strongholds and the corridors that connect them.  We target, large, iconic, wide-ranging species because of their intrinsic value and because they are vital to ecosystem health.  By saving them, we protect all other biodiversity that shelters under their conservation canopy.