Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of a thriving future for people and nature. WWF works towards that future by strengthening community leadership to safeguard marine ecosystems and improve the well-being of coastal communities. In 2023, WWF and partners launched Elinor, an open-access collaborative tool and data system that monitors the governance and management of conservation areas. Now, we’re releasing Stewards of the Coastline, a new report that begins to analyze the data input by ecosystem managers and communities since Elinor’s launch.
The report focuses on the Southwest Indian Ocean region, revealing how widespread community-led management efforts are working towards effective and equitable governance across Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, and Kenya. From the analysis of 52 community-managed areas, five key pillars stood out as the best ways to improve governance:
- Strong tenure and community rights;
- Tailored solutions to national and local needs;
- Stable and diverse funding sources;
- Strong capacity for learning;
- And strong data sharing and use of Elinor.
The authors argue that taking these five pillars and using them in a regional shared-learning approach is critical for meeting large-scale conservation goals, like those set out in the Global Biodiversity Framework. When stakeholders are working together across local, national, and regional levels, communities achieve benefits for people and nature far beyond what a single community or country could achieve in isolation. There are still gaps in understanding the status of ecosystem management but the findings in this first edition of Stewards of the Coastline will help the Southwest Indian Ocean region and other communities around the world continue to build up long-lasting and well-protected community-managed ecosystems.
Read the full report.
