Posted on June, 29 2010

The members of the steering committee for the RAMP-COI (Réseau des Aires Marines Protégées des pays de la Commission de l’Océan Indien) project implemented by WWF MWIOPO has met in Antananarivo for the fifth time since his creation and the kick off of the project in 2006.

National focal points of all participating countries (Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius and France/Réunion) were present as well as Malagasy government representatives and different partner NGOs such as CI, WCS and Blue Ventures.

One of the projects main objectives was the development of a regional strategy for conserving marine ecosystems and fisheries of the Western Indian Ocean Ecoregion. A draft of the strategy including a suggestion of 51 priority sites for marine conservation has been created by regional experts last December and is currently being reviewed by all participating countries governments.

Gina Bonne, “Chargée de Mission” of the Indian Ocean Committee based in Mauritius was happy with the results of the RAMP-COI project. “I especially appreciated the eco-regional analysis that has been made which made us realize what we have and what we must protect. It was also a real success how we managed to bring all stakeholders on one table and make them realize that together we are stronger”
Fouad Abdou Rabi, a marine protected area manager from the Comoros Islands benefited from training provided by the project. “The Moheli Marine Park is a young park and we learnt a lot from other parks in the Western Indian Ocean region. We have a clear vision and a well implemented management plan now. Yes, I think our park will soon be on the same level than others, thanks to this project!”

Yajoshi Basant Rai the Mauritian focal point adds “We definitely needed this project. It allowed us to do things we would have otherwise postponed. We were given the right support to reach the goals we had anyway. ” She adds as an example an environmental assessment of the Balaclava Marine Park supported by the project which led to the development of a coastal habitat map. This survey was done in collaboration with the Albion Fisheries Research Center staff who benefited of marine habitat survey training.

A successful start of a regional process has found its end last week. Rémi Ratsimbazafy, head of project at WWF MWIOPO (Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean Programme Office) is satisfied with the activities despite certain difficulties. “The huge amount of stakeholders we worked with didn’t always make it easy to push things forward. Nevertheless it is extremely rewarding to see regional representatives finally work together for a common approach to conserve their marine resources. We need to keep lobbying now within government ministries to build momentum. Last but not least, we are talking about people’s livelihoods.”