| Grantee | Tofia Niue ↗ |
| Grant Amount | $630,000 |
| Duration | Two Years |
Over the last three years, Niue has achieved a significant level of policy development and action that substantially enhances marine conservation and management reform away from piecemeal ocean management to a holistic sustainable conservation, management and development approach. This has been made possible with a unique Public-Private Partnership project between the government of Niue and Tofia Niue (local None Profit Organization), through the Niue Ocean Wide (NOW) project. This is seen as underpinning resource and ecosystem sustainability, as well as optimizing its value and benefits back to the Niuean people through both spatial protection and tightly managed marine resource use zones. The high-level outputs/outcomes of the NOW project include:
1. The development of the EEZ wide Niue Nukutuluea Marine Spatial Management Plan., establishing a network of conservation and resource use zones.
2. The Niue Moana Mahu large scale no-take marine protected area, representing 40% of Niue’s EEZ, and a the Nukutulueatama Beveridge Reef special management area (SMA).
3. Established the first Niue EEZ Compliance Strategy.
4. Increased benefits to Niue through enhanced sustainable management of marine resources, as well as measured increase in benefits through sustainable-tourism and innovative sustainable development and resilience initiatives, enhanced through the marketing of Niue’s pristine marine environment and enhanced marine conservation values.
5. Developed fit-for-purpose sustainable financing strategy aimed at a game changing institutionalization of donor and partner support harmonization aligned with a country driven Public Private Trust to underpin sustainable resourcing for future sustainable development and conservation efforts in Niue in perpetuity.
With MSMP policies and management frameworks in place, this project looks to complete the detailed coastal (0-3nm) MSP, and commence implementation to ensure not only the maximum chance of success and sustainability for Niue in this space, but also to overcome the above-mentioned lessons and legacy of shelved policies. In the current and predicted environmental and climate change circumstances imposing on our marine ecosystems, failure and delay are no longer an option for Niue.
The overarching project goal remains: The holistic sustainable development and management of our ocean and its resources to improve livelihoods of Niuean’s now and into the future.”
