This is the result of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) compilation of case studies about the economic benefits of marine protected areas.

For small island states like Seychelles, the ocean is the heart and soul of the country’s economy. Marine protected areas are, therefore, crucial in finding the balance between our economic health and keeping up the physical status of the resources on which almost the entire population depends for food and income.

It has been proved globally that well-managed protected areas increase fish catches – resulting in increases in revenue for local communities and increases in the income of local fishermen.

These marine protected areas also attract tourism, which is the other important source of income in marine conservation. Seychelles’ marine protected areas are the result of over 30 years of conservation, and a very large number of visitors are entertained every year in the marine national parks, attracted by the snorkelling and diving that are offered.

Curieuse island has attracted more visitors in the last three years than any of the other marine national parks of Seychelles. According to the National Parks Authority, a total of 30,155 visitors to the island was recorded in 2008; in all the Seychelles marine parks put together, there were 45,424 visitors in 2007, increasing to 47,493 in 2008.

Along the western coast of Hawaii, a network of marine protected areas was established in 1999 following concerns about over-harvesting by aquarium fishers. Eight years later, the total catch, and the catch for the top two commercial species in the adjacent areas, were much higher than in the previous 40 years.

“These case studies show that closing selected marine areas to fishing or other extractive uses makes economic sense,” said Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of IUCN’s global marine programme.

“Marine protected areas, if well managed, help fish stocks replenish, which then increase yields in neighbouring areas and improve the economic situation of the local communities,” he said.

In some local cases such as Curieuse and Cousin islands, they provide certain other terrestrial economic assets for the parks authority and in other cases their private, institutional management.

These include giant tortoises, coco de mer nuts (of which 458 were sold in 2008) and the mangrove boardwalk on Curieuse, as well as nature trails on both islands – all of which helps to bring in more visitors than the other marine parks that only provide marine-related activities.

This helps to increase the income of the parks, and some of these benefits eventually filter into the Seychelles economy to the advantage of the local people. 

IUCN director general Julia Marton-Lefèvre said protecting the oceans is not only good for biodiversity but also makes money.
“Examples from around the world prove that there are no excuses anymore for exploiting the oceans until nothing is left – it will ultimately destroy the fishing industry altogether, let alone the diversity of life on our planet,” she said.

As has rightly been said by special adviser in the President’s Office Dr Rolph Payet, speaking at the World Ocean Congress last year: “1.5 billion people depend on fish worldwide…killing the environment is as serious as killing your neighbour.”

Here in Seychelles, the marine parks also provide mooring facilities for those who want to enjoy the pristine beauty of the parks for longer periods – and this has an economic value too for the parks authority and for the country in general, bringing in about 2,130 visitors in 2008.

The total earned from January 2007 to December 2008 by selling marine park tickets to tourists was almost R108 million.

Less than 1% of the world’s oceans are currently protected, compared to about 12% of the land surface. But governments agreed under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to increase protection of the oceans to 10% by 2010.

Contributed by Mangroves for the Future (MFF), an IUCN and UNDP-led initiative