The Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC) region is one of world’s outstanding marine biodiversity areas, with superlative coastal coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, and pelagic systems supporting whales, turtles, sharks, seabirds and other migratory species. The region also has dynamic economic potential, featuring significant natural gas deposits (a recent discovery), a high potential for coastal tourism, and a growing population. 
In response to the growing pressure on the NMC’s unique marine resources in mind, a partnership called the Northern Mozambique Channel Initiative has been developed, with the goal of delivering a sustainable blue economy. WWF is supporting this initiative by facilitating both the partnership process and the necessary fundraising. We are also promoting integrated ocean governance through the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning and the application of principles and standards for sustainability in key economic sectors, such oil and gas extraction. Our aim is to support each country in the region to build effective partnerships that ensure an effective and integrated approach to marine and coastal resource use.
 
Partners
Cordio, UNEP/Nairobi Convention Secretariat, WCS, FFI, CI, IUCN, Blue Ventures, TNC, Rare, Birdlife International Wetlands International, WIOMSA

The third longest barrier reef system in the southern hemisphere, Fiji’s Great Sea Reef (GSR) is home to a high value coral reef biodiversity area, including mangrove systems that provide critical sustenance, protection, and support for ocean life and people alike. The GSR is now faced with unprecedented challenges. Rapid population growth, urban expansion, increasing demand for natural resources, frequent intense cyclones, tidal waves, flooding, landslides, ineffective policies, and weak legislation are all placing enormous pressure on this fragile ecosystem.
 
WWF is supporting efforts to restore and strengthen the GSR ecosystem, working with local and national stakeholders to define an integrated management approach. Together, we will create one of the world’s first adaptation and resilience programmes that brings together land, people, and ocean. Our target is a healthier and more climate resilient GSR and coastal ecosystem by 2025 — one which supports sustainable and inclusive livelihoods, food security, sustainable economic growth, and community wellbeing.
 
 
 
Partners
Government of Fiji – relevant Ministries
Communities
Wildlife Conservation Society Fiji
Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas
Private Sector:

• Fiji Sugar Industries
• Tourism Industries – Fiji Hotels and Tourism Association, SPTO
• Fisheries Industries – Fishing Solander, Sequest, Fiji Fishing Industries Association, Lyndhurst reef fish
• Forestry – Fiji Pine FSC

WWF is working with stakeholders in the San Jorge Gulf of Argentina to help them realize a new maritime plan that is integrated and sustainable. Marine Spatial Planning is central to the process, which is designed to achieve harmony and balance between the demands of development and the need to protect marine ecosystems. The result is a plan for ocean-related development that is mutually beneficial for the environment, society, and economy. 
Use of Marine Spatial Planning also provides the government with the knowledge resources needed to guide decision making and improve management of marine areas. Better knowledge of ocean sciences, biodiversity, natural resources, and environmental services enables governments to better coordinate between sectors, institutions, and jurisdictions, and anticipate potential conflicts between uses.
WWF aims to have a Spatial Plan for the San Jorge Gulf implemented by 2020 under an adaptive management approach. The ultimate objective is for the plan’s success to generats replication and scaling up of the project to impact other priority marine areas in the Argentine Sea.
 
Partners
Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable (MAyDS)
Pampa Azul Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e innovación productiva
Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian sea and Areas of Influence

The Coral Triangle is the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity, containing 76% of known coral species and over 3,000 species of reef fish. It’s also home to about 350 million people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste—many of whom rely on coastal and marine resources for their livelihoods. Unfortunately, the Triangle faces constant threats ranging from unsustainable fishing practices to coastal tourism development, climate change, and pollution.
In 2009, the six Coral Triangle governments formed the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries & Food Security to address these challenges through a “people-centered” approach to biodiversity conservation. WWF shares this vision, and is working with stakeholders to mobilize partnerships and resources at the scale needed to achieve conservation results. Our goal is to sustainably manage and protect the triangle’s ecosystems, encourage responsible industries, and increase social and economic benefits from sustainable use.

WWF is supporting the establishment and expansion of marine protected areas in the Colombian Pacific, promoting the conservation of key ecosystems and safeguarding the livelihood of the local communities that depend on their resources. A key example is the protection of the native mangroves, which provide ecosystem services essential to the well-being of local communities — including water, fishing, and biological resources, as well as flood and erosion control.
Strengthening governance processes is an essential element of the process. We are working closely with local communities and government entities to help us understand their relationships with the territory, uses, expectations, decision making mechanisms, and ancestral knowledge. Extensive collaboration is enabling us to better integrate all necessary information into the planning and declaration processes of the new protected areas — and ultimately helping to foster a greater sense of stewardship in the Colombian Pacific, to ensure the long-term health of important ecosystems.
 
Partners
Colombian National Authority of Aquaculture and Fishing (AUNAP in Spanish)
Natural National Parks of Colombia (PNN in Spanish)
local governments of the Nariño, Cauca, Chocó and Valle del Cauca departments of Colombia, Marine Research National Institute (INVEMAR)
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
Regional Environmental Management Corporations (CARs)

WWF has been successfully bringing industry participants together around the common goal of sustainable tuna fishing since 2008, focusing on major purse seine vessel owners and their associations and forming fishery improvement projects (FIPs) in each of the world’s oceans. These efforts are aimed at removing all impediments to meeting the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard and becoming MSC-certified fisheries.  
In the past, we primarily engaged processors and traders through the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). Now, we are building on this success through the formation of a Global Tuna Producing Company collaboration (GTPC), led by major purse seine vessel owners. This collaboration will align the incentives between vessel-owning companies and ISSF participants to ensure vessels harvesting tuna bound for US and EU markets ultimately meet the MSC standard. The GTPC should lead to advancements on major challenges including precautionary harvest strategies, effective enforcement, bycatch reduction, and observer safety.
 
Partners
ISSF, OPAGAC, Thai Union Europe, Princes UK, ANABAC, ORTHONGEL, TUNACONS (NIRSA S.A., GRUPO JADRAN, EUROFISH, SERVIGRUP, TRIMARINE) and other tuna vessel owners in the future

While ample knowledge exists about how to conserve sharks and rays, current conservation efforts need to be scaled up dramatically, and governments need to get serious about conserving these critically important animals. Together with other like-minded organizations, national governments, and regional and global bodies, WWF has initiated a global 10-year conservation strategy, Global Priorities for Conserving Sharks and Rays.
The strategy consists of four interlocking action points, including (1) Saving Shark and Ray Species, (2) Managing Shark and Ray Fisheries for Sustainability, (3) Ensuring Responsible Trade in Shark and Ray Products, and (4) Encouraging Responsible Consumption of Shark and Ray Products. Our aim is to, by 2025, halt shark and ray species decline, prevent extinctions, and increase conservation commitments globally. We aim to see sharks and rays throughout the world fulfilling their ecological roles, sustaining well-managed fisheries, and being valued for their critical contributions to ecosystem health and human well-being.
 
Partners
IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Shark Specialist Group (SSG), Shark Advocates International, Shark Trust, TRAFFIC, and WCS 

The Blue Economy — defined as economic activity dependent on Earth’s oceans and coastlines — is expanding rapidly. Globally, it generates $2.5 trillion per year from a combination of fishing, shipping, tourism, and many other activities. These figures do not include cultural and less tangible values, or the non-quantifiable benefit of maintaining the systemic health of the 70% of our planet that is ocean. However, none of this economic benefit is guaranteed if we do not take action to ensure the long-term sustainability of this invaluable planetary asset.
WWF is working to define and promote the adoption of “Principles for a Sustainable Blue Economy,” and identify the actions leaders must take to secure a truly sustainable development approach. These include setting clear goals for preserving ecosystem health, adopting best practices, aiming for a circular economy based on renewable energy, and adopting sustainable investment guidelines in our seas. Progress will be reported annually.

With one million hectares of coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds, Malaysia’s Tun Mustapha Park is a treasure trove of biodiversity and home to endangered marine life such as turtles and dugongs. It’s also an invaluable fishing grounds, supplying food and livelihoods for more than 80,000 people in the surrounding coastal and island communities. After many years of work by government and civil society, Tun Mustapha Park was finally established as a protected area in 2016. Now WWF is working with stakeholders to ensure that Tun Mustapha becomes a multiple use managed park, with different areas designated for strict protection, tourism, artisanal fishing, and commercial fishing.
We’re working to achieve this through collaborative management and environmental stewardship. An integrated approach ensures protection while allowing communities living in the protected area to continue their activities within designated zones, producing beneficial outcomes for biodiversity, ocean health, and people alike.
 
Partners
Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Environment
Sabah Parks, Sabah Fisheries Department, Sabah Wildlife Department
Local government  units  –  District  Offices of  Kudat, Kota Marudu, and Pitas
80,000 coastal inhabitants of diverse ethnic groups in the local government units of TMP 
Marine industry sectors,  i.e. tourism operators and fisheries 
University of Malaysia Sabah
University of Malaysia Terengganu
University of Queensland
Civil societies including Kudat Turtle Conservation Society and Banggi Youth Club 

Located at the apex of the Coral Triangle, the Philippines’ Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a World Heritage Site and famous diving destination known for its great expanse and species diversity. The Philippines is also one of the world’s top fish and seafood exporting nations. Despite protections, available data tell us that 71% of the nation’s fisheries are overfished.
WWF is currently working with partners and the government to implement a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in the Tubbataha Reefs, starting with tuna — but the long-term goal is gulf-wide sustainable fisheries management. We are also working to improve overall management of the marine protected area by setting up the necessary mechanisms and systems to transform it from a “paper park” to a functional park, creating benefitsl for both people and biodiversity. Our target is the effective management of 2 million hectares of Marine Protected Areas by 2025.
 
Partners:
Government agencies: German Development Bank (DEG) and Philippine Government: Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Partido Development Authority, 5 provincial and 22 municipal governments in the project sites, Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board, Philippine Coast Guard.
Corporations: Swiss Coop, Bell, Sea Fresh, New England Seafood, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Cebu Pacific Air, Banco de Oro, Grieg Foundation
Foundations and other NGO donors: Fondation Segre, WWF-Germany, Large Marine Vertebrate Research Institute Philippines

WWF is working with fishers in the Arabian Sea to help reduce by-catch and its consequences through the introduction of low-impact fishing methods. Fishers are trained as observers onboard tuna vessels to collect data on species that are unintentionally trapped in fishing operations and to facilitate their safe release. The program helps conserve these marine species and promote cultural change in local fishing operations, highlighting the value of preserving ocean creatures for the benefit of all.
To date, 74 observers have been trained and have started recording much-needed data on by-catch, including data on mortalities and the entanglement of important species. The observers have safely released hundreds of marine turtles, whales, dolphins, manta rays, sea snakes and sea birds back into the ocean. This work is done on a completely voluntary basis, with the crew diving into the water and cutting nets to untangle drowning animals.   
 
Partners
Common Oceans
GEF/FAO, ISSF