Water covers 70 percent of the Earth. Marine and freshwater environments sustain an abundance of life in its spectacular diversity. Through our history, small-scale fishing communities have interacted and depended on these living resources. A threat to aquatic environments is a danger to artisanal fishers.
Their protection and stewardship are essential to the communities and cultures they sustain. This relationship is a framework to manage conflicts and improve the quality of life and livelihood of small-scale fishers. It was recognized in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Governments increasingly designate marine protected areas (MPAs) for conservation and management. This legal instrument does help but its implementation has raised serious concerns. Target-driven expansion of MPAs is fixated on quantitative goals. This has hit the rights, livelihoods and sustainable use practices of small-scale fishing communities. MPAs—created often in a non-consultative and non-participatory manner—have focused on regulating/restricting their fisheries, failing to recognize their sustainable livelihoods, culture and survival.
It is imperative that protection efforts are grounded in principles of sustainable use. That their processes are inclusive and recognize</b< traditional local systems of knowledge and governance, building upon them. Artisanal fishers must be the frontline of marine biodiversity conservation. There is an urgent need for systematic improvements on all such matters.
A range of ICSF’s initiatives highlight the social and political dimensions of conservation. The importance of livelihoods of poor and vulnerable communities, of their participation and consultation. The co-management of resources by fishing communities, based on a human rights approach to conservation.
Fisher Peoples in Action: A Human Rights-Based Approach to achieve Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) targets in Coastal and Marine Conservation. Description: Fisher Peoples, in their diversity as Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, local communities, women, girls, and youth, make a joint call for recognition of the need to actively involve fisher peoples and adopt a human rights-based approach to achieve the KMGBF Targets in Coastal and Marine Conservation. To achieve the KMGBF targets in coastal and marine conservation, it is necessary to recognize the centrality of Fisher Peoples to biodiversity conservation success. They are the stewards and caretakers of the ocean, coasts, rivers, and lakes. Yet, the current KMGBF implementation process does not sufficiently involve and guarantee Indigenous and local community small-scale fishers’ human rights and stewardship. For more details, please visit: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k15/k15icg47f5
While specific area-based protections including full closures have historically been common fisheries management measures, the specific notion or use of the term MPAs has been mostly restricted to those implemented...
This review provides an updated synthesis of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine biodiversity based upon current literature, including emerging research on the geological history of natural ocean acidification...
We describe six case studies that exemplify different approaches taken to develop MPA networks in the Coral Triangle region at different scales: Nusa Penida in Indonesia; Tun Mustapha Park in...
We propose expanded use of marine spatial planning as a framework for more effective, pragmatic management based on ocean zones to accommodate conflicting uses. This would force the holistic, regional-scale...
The North Sea is one of the busiest marine areas in the world. It is also a major fisheries ground. Bordered by seven countries with their own spatial uses and...
Scientific collaboration among dedicated experts to better understand marine biodiversity and support country efforts to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
The report is not intended to be a comprehensive review of marine spatial planning. Rather, it provides a concise response to the request by COP 10 Decision X/29 para 75...
More than 30% of the individual MPAs in Japan were established by self-imposed instruments agreed by members of fishery co-management organizations. It was suggested that the autonomous MPAs are not...
There is a relatively long history of marine resource conservation under international law and, presently, there is a considerable array of instruments aimed at the conservation of fisheries, both within...
The guide provides a comprehensive overview of MSP. It focuses on describing a logical sequence of steps that are all required to achieve desired goals and objectives for marine areas....