Development of Strategic Management Framework for Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan

INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT

‘Development of a Strategic Management Framework for Sustainable-use Marine Protected Areas in Seychelles’

• INTRODUCTION

The Republic of Seychelles is a tropical archipelago of 115 islands in the Western Indian Ocean, consisting of a total land area of 444 km2 and an Exclusive Economic Zone of over 1.37 million km2. The country is endowed with rich biodiversity and is a global biodiversity hotspot. Marine tourism and fisheries are significant contributors to the local economy, both relying on healthy marine ecosystems. In consideration of the importance of conserving marine resources and a growing concern for climate change impacts, the Government of Seychelles is committed to a Blue Economy agenda and a 30% marine protection goal.

The Seychelles Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Initiative was initiated in 2014 and is a process that is focused on building resilience and sustainable use of marine ecosystems at the scale of the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The overall goal for the MSP Initiative is to develop an integrated marine plan to optimise the sustainable use and effective management of Seychelles’ marine environment while improving the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of its people. The MSP Initiative is a Government-led process, with planning and facilitation by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In order to develop a comprehensive marine plan, the process enables input from a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing commercial fishing, tourism and marine charters, biodiversity conservation, renewable and non-renewable energy, and maritime transport, safety and security authorities.

The plan has identified zones for marine protection that meet high and medium biodiversity objectives (15% of the EEZ each in each zone). In February 2018, the first phase of the process was completed with the creation of two new protected areas covering a total area of more than 200,000 km2. In April 2019, Milestone 2 was completed and at present 26% of the EEZ has been designated as protected areas. The MSP Initiative is currently in the process of designating Milestone 3 areas, with the ultimate goal of 30% of Seychelles’ marine environment zoned for conservation or sustainable-use by March 2020.

Implementation of the MSP, in terms of managing the sustainable-use protected areas according to allowable activities, is scheduled to start in 2021. This timeline will coincide with the establishment of the Ocean Authority, which will be mandated to coordinate MSP implementation. To prepare for implementation, it is necessary to develop a framework that will outline key design and operational aspects of management, including definition of management units, scope of management plans, and the roles and responsibilities of the institutions that will manage activities in sustainable-use zones according to existing or planned mandates. Once adopted by stakeholders, the framework will guide the preparation and implementation of management plans.

The Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3) is part of the broader SWIOFish program launched by the World Bank in February 2015, which adopts a regional and long term approach to supporting the South West Indian Ocean countries in sustainably developing their fisheries sector. In Seychelles, SWIOFish3 is supporting the expansion of sustainable-use marine protected areas and improved management of priority fisheries, which includes support towards the implmentation of the MSP and sustainable mangement of the EEZ.

With support from the SWIOFish3 project, the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEECC) is now recruiting a consultant to develop a strategic management framework for sustainable-use marine protected areas in Seychelles.

• OBJECTIVES

The goal of this assignment is to develop a strategic framework that will guide the development and implementation of management plans for sustainable-use MPAs designated under the Seychelles MSP. The specific objectives of the assignment are to:

• facilitate stakeholder agreement on defining spatially explicit management framework and management units that are robust in ecological and socioeconomic terms while also practical in terms of institutional mandates and capabilities as well as implementation.

• produce a strategic framework for the development and implementation of management plans that addresses the specificities of management units and ensures harmonisation with MSP and other policy objectives, economies of scale and efficiencies in implementation

• SCOPE OF WORK

The assignment will involve the following tasks and activities:

• Hold an inception meeting with the MEECC and the MSP core team to discuss the work plan, agree on stakeholder scope and how to effectively deliver outputs;

• Using the policy and legal review completed under the MSP process, develop the strategic management framework, ensuring that it is built around existing policy, legislation and institutional mandates and capabilities, and meets the needs of the allowable activities agreed for the different MSP zones;

• Conduct stakeholder consultations and workshops to facilitate agreement on management units and define key elements of the strategic framework. At a minimum, stakeholders will be consulted from the fisheries (including aquaculture), tourism, conservation, infrastructure and maritime transport, and energy sectors;

• Draft strategic management framework that outlines (a) the overarching management plan development and implementation strategy, (b) management plan units and their ecological/socioeconomic justification, (c) scope of management plan units in terms of sectors and objectives, (d) institutional and stakeholder roles and responsibilities and alignment with mandates and capabilities, and (e) rationale of the strategy in terms of economies of scale and efficiency;

• Plan and facilitate a workshop for stakeholder validation of the strategic framework,

• Submit a final version of the strategic management framework including policy brief, workshop materials and final PowerPoint presentation.

• DELIVERABLES

The key deliverables will be as follows:

• Inception report including detailed work plan,

• Stakeholder Consultation and Workshop reports,

• Approved Technical report comprising the strategic management framework.

• ASSIGNMENT DURATION AND TIMING OF ACTIVITIES/DELIVERABLES

The assignment will be undertaken in May, June and July 2020, according to proposed schedule below. It is estimated that the assignment will require 20 consultancy days. If international, the consultant will be expected to be present in Seychelles for the duration of steps 4 and 6.