28 Apr Marine Protected Areas and Livelihoods
CCRN Director Dr. Tony Charles
CCRN Director Anthony Charles presented to the scientific and technical body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal on “Improving Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas with a Focus on Livelihoods.”
In occasion of the 20th Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (25-30th April 2016, Montreal, Canada), the presentation took place within an event jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Fisheries Expert Group of IUCN, and Saint Mary’s University, with support from the CBD Secretariat.
The focus was on how marine protected areas, fishing livelihoods and food security interact, and can be mutually supportive. The presentation reviewed key aspects of the 2014 World Parks Congress, and reported on research contained in two publications: (1) an FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper on marine protected areas, fishing livelihoods and food security, and (2) an article Fishing Livelihoods as Key to Marine Protected Areas: Insights from the World Parks Congress in the journal Aquatic Conservation. The research concluded that when fishers and communities are empowered and involved, MPAs can more effectively produce biodiversity and human outcomes.