Community-based Coastal and Marine Conservation in the Milne Bay Province

The project will develop participatory management processes that protects a sample of Milne Bay coastal marine biodiversity in three designated zones that are representative of the ecosystems and social settings in the Milne Bay Province. The Province contains some of the most biologically diverse coral reefs, mangrove forests, and sea grass beds left in the world. These ecosystems remain some of the least impacted in the planet too. The first phase of this will pilot activities in the first of the three targeted zones by overlaying conservation goals into the sustainable development framework, removing barriers to the ecologically sustainable utilization of marine ecosystems at the local level. It will do so through improvements in environmental governance, marine protected areas management, increased environmental education and awareness, and alternative livelihood options that would assist in securing conservation objectives through UNDP funding. This last support would also assist in seeking to control the African Giant Snail, an alien species causing substantive damage. Proposed activities will test and adapt appropriate conservation models to reflect social, economic and ecological specificities in the area, establishing an enabling institutional and policy environment for conservation activities across the Province.