While co-management has been customary of many coastal communities for thousands of years and a living example of participatory democracy, policies are only now being adopted nationally. In Madagascar for example, the fisheries department adopted regulations in 2017 that empowers communities to manage coastal resources. Compared to a top-down approach, co-management relies on transparency and trust, merging science and traditional knowledge. This can be a challenge to achieve, but it rewards the additional effort with benefits for both people and nature.
WWF is proud to have supported coastal communities in securing their rights to resources and improving their management of those resources. Communities in Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique temporarily closed fisheries of octopus, a fast growing species. After the pause, which allowed the octopus to mature and reproduce, the communities saw massive increases in their catch and revenue during reef openings. This year, a fishery in Tanzania was able to sell its harvest for a 100-fold profit on previous years. “This is my first time ever to get a lot of money from fishing activities since I started fishing in 2019,” said one fisher.
In addition to sustainable fishing, a co-management approach can be applied to other economic activities like aquaculture and seaweed farming, as well as conservation and blue-carbon capture projects like protecting coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass. Coupled with microfinance tools, financial literacy and access to finance, such projects can help reduce communities’ dependency on dwindling inshore fisheries.
But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Networks of coastal community-led organizations, nonprofits and governments need to come together to implement transformative approaches that will deliver large-scale, rights-based outcomes for both Africa’s people and the coastal ecosystems that support them.
The threat of ocean grabbing is real and imminent. It carries the risk of greater inequity, unfairness and exploitation of resources hidden under the guise of development. That threat must be met with a non-negotiable commitment to human rights -- including the newly enshrined right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
WWF aims to help make that case until this right is a reality.
Contributing authors include:
Maria Honig, WWF Accelerating Coastal Community-led Conservation Initiative Leader
Umair Shahid, WWF Indian Ocean Tuna Manager
Sadaf Sutaria, WWF-Mozambique Tuna Policy Officer