Varuna MPA, an international cooperation project for protected areas

In the Indian Ocean, the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) and Nature Reserves of France (RNF) are co-leading the Varuna MPA project, with the aim of managing the region's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) more sustainably and developing networks of local stakeholders.

Financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and implemented by Expertise France, Varuna aims to halt the erosion of biodiversity in the South-West Indian Ocean. Five Indian Ocean states are involved: the Union of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius (Mauritius and Rodrigues), France (Reunion, Mayotte, TAAF) and the Seychelles.

It is based on three main areas of action:

• Structuring networks of regional players to encourage coordinated efforts to preserve biodiversity;
• Support the integration of ecological transition issues among economic actors.
• Encouraging the contribution of research to the Science-Society dialogue on biodiversity.

Each axis is made of several projects with a common vision: working together to preserve biodiversity for the benefit of the region's inhabitants.

Among the 8 projects of the Varuna programme, the “network of MPAs managers” - Varuna AMP - is led by Nature Reserves of France (RNF) and the French Biodiversity Agency alongside 10 partners. Its aim is to perpetuate the links forged between protected area managers in the various countries concerned and to enhance their skills.

In 2023, the network's managers and partners met in Madagascar to draw up a regional knowledge-sharing action plan. Among the needs expressed, managers wanted to develop their skills through professional training, particularly in the sustainable management of marine areas.

RNF has therefore developed a program of workshops and training courses covering various themes:

• Introduction to marine area management in the Indian Ocean
• Training / introduction to networked scientific monitoring for the adaptive management of major marine habitats (coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves)
• Technical exchanges / Financing mechanisms and (sustainable) income-generating activities for MPAs and associated communities.
• Thematic workshop / Community management of marine areas and citizen participation
• Training / Enhancing MPA communication / LMMA / VMCA
• Training / Communicating with elected representatives
• Technical exchanges / Delimiting marine areas (e.g. buoys, spatial planning...)

These training courses began in December 2023 and will continue until the end of 2025.

In addition, several calls for companionships, tutorials and micro-projects will be launched up to 2025 to set up actions of collective interest and encourage coordinated efforts to conserve biodiversity in the South-West Indian Ocean