| Grantee | Wildlife Conservation Society ↗ |
| Grant Amount | $573,000 |
| Duration | Two Years |
The Fiji Government is making significant efforts on the international stage and within individual Ministries to advance and solidify marine conservation and management across Fiji’s EEZ. In 2019, the Government announced its intention to develop and adopt an Oceans Policy to manage 100% of its ocean by 2030, and meet its 30% MPA commitment by 2030. In addition, it made 17 commitments at the UN Ocean conference in 2017. As part of these efforts, this project aims to build consultative and transparent decisionmaking processes to increase sustainable fisheries management and marine protected areas for food security and biodiversity protection.
This project builds upon and leverages existing work conducted by five partners in Fiji: cChange, Conservation International (CI), Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) network, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Specifically, the project will: (1) implement new science-based, minimum size limits for key fisheries in Fiji; (2) identify new offshore marine protected areas (MPAs) to support Fiji’s national and global 30 percent protection goal, through effective and thoughtful consultations with local communities, key stakeholders and the broader Fijian public; (3) implement the Lau Seascape Strategy with a focus on improving fisheries and establishing protected areas; and (4) identify sustainable financing options for Fiji’s LMMAs.
