Look back on the FFEM experience-sharing workshop on Marine Protected Areas held on 1 February in Vancouver
published on 31 March 2023
On the fringe of the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5), held 3 - 9 February in Vancouver, the FFEM Secretariat and the French Biodiversity Agency organised an experience-sharing workshop on Wednesday 1 February to discuss experiences and learnings from 25 years of FFEM projects supporting Marine Protected Areas.
Co-hosted by the two authors of the capitalisation report, Thierry Clément and Catherine Gabrié - experts and international consultants on the marine environment - the workshop was an opportunity to successively go through the different themes in the publication and to highlight the recommendations emerging from the experience-sharing, in particular:
- The creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA), informed by a solid understanding of the context,
- More effective and sustainable management of MPA,
- The development of a “blue economy”,
- Ecosystem resilience
Constance Corbier-Barthaux - Biodiversity project manager at the FFEM - reported:
During the Congress, I met so many of our project partners representing every ocean on Earth, all eager to share with their peers their experience, successes and concerns. The role of Marine Protected Areas is essential to the preservation of ocean biodiversity, but many lack the human and financial resources to deliver effective management that truly unites all those involved, starting with the local communities and fishers. For its part, the FFEM will help support initiatives promoting cooperation and the sharing of good co-management practices in order to reconcile the challenges of conservation and local development.
With over 50 participants attending in person and remotely, across 5 continents, this workshop again demonstrated the relevance of learning from experience-sharing in order to co-build effective solutions for the sustainable management of Marine Protected Areas.
As remarked by a Chief of the Squamish, one of the First Nations of Canada during the official opening ceremony of the Fifth IMPAC: « Holding up each other for the next generations ».
