Joint management of the Mascareignes Plateau between Mauritius and Seychelles |12 January 2018
US $2m GEF funding to help achieve strategic aims
Seychelles and Mauritius have benefitted from a US $2 million from the GEF for the implementation of a project to achieve the main strategic objectives as laid out in the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan of the joint management of the Mascareignes Plateau between the two coastal states.
This is in view to consolidating the development and management of the joint management area (JMA) between the two countries.
The main components of the project will be focusing on building Technical and Management Capacity in support for Marine Spatial Information System and effective management of the JMA.
The project will support the Joint Commission (JC) to develop a training and capacity development programme as well as design and implement training courses and workshops.
It will also provide support to the technical cadre of both States by envisaging regional and global meetings related to the Joint Management process and for the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning.
The project will also work with existing industry partners to support mapping and monitoring programmes in the JMA.
It will further assist and support the JC in the development of contingency plans for the offshore extractive industry.
Another vital part of the project includes the development of a data and information system along with a programme of data capture and gap-filling as a foundation for an adaptive management strategy.
It shall cater for the finalisation of gaps analysis of missing data and of unsurveyed areas and also emphasise on the repatriation of data currently.
The project will also endeavour to undertake further baseline surveys of the Mascarene Plateau in order to fill in gaps while assisting in the development of a joint data and Information System to support the joint authority. This will help identify and facilitate access to appropriate technologies linked to capacity
building and training, select appropriate indicators for targeting in a long-term monitoring programme as well as develop a reliable mechanism to ensure that data analysis results and conclusions fed into management guidelines and policy advisories provide an adaptive management options for decision makers.
The project also focusses on the adoption and implementation of a Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) approach with the objective of improving and implementing effective decision-making for activities within the JMA. The overall intention would be to develop a sustainable ‘Blue/Ocean Economy’ based approach in view to creating an advantage to the two partner-countries in terms of access to natural resources and the economic benefits thereof while avoiding conflicts of use that might challenge the sustainability of living marine resources and the livelihoods of all users and maintaining biodiversity and life-supporting ecological systems.
The goals of a MSP would be clearly defined by the JC.
The project focusses on the preparation and delivery of draft management strategy based on Marine Spatial Planning. It will further assist the JC in identifying funding mechanisms for management and will develop a monitoring and review process for assessing management progress and goal attainment.
The project shall span over a period of four years and will be implemented through the Department for Continental Shelf, Maritime Zones Administration and Exploration, Ministry of Defence and Rodrigues, Mauritius and a Project Manager appointed from Seychelles.