Progress report for
Tonga develops a marine spatial plan
Achievement at a glance
Work completed to date: \r\n1. Relevant Ministries within the National Environment Coordinating Committee, (NECC), dedicated to Oceans, have been convened as the Ocean 7 (Tonga’s Marine Spatial Planning Technical Working Group). This includes the Ministries in charge of Lands and Natural Resources, Environment, Fisheries, Ports, Shipping, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Tourism, Internal Affairs, Finance, and National Planning.\r\n2. The Ocean 7 have drawn upon existing, articulated government documents to determine a specific vision and objectives for the marine spatial plan*, \r\n3. The national value of Tonga’s marine ecosystem services was estimated at $47.4 million per year.\r\n4. A legal analysis, of 93 instruments explored the current jurisdiction regarding Tonga’s ocean use and management.\r\n5. Over 120 open-source or otherwise freely available datasets for Tonga have been collated, assessed and shared among the Ocean 7 Ministries. These data include environmental, physical, biological, use, threat/risk, and management data*.\r\n6. Ocean 7 together with other marine experts in Tonga identified biophysically special, unique marine areas in Tonga.\r\n7. Ocean 7 has defined a typology of ocean management areas to be used in the ocean planning process.\r\n8. Tongan experts including the Ocean 7 have comprehensively described the entire marine environment of Tonga.\r\n9. The Ocean 7 defined guidelines for the placement of different types of ocean management areas within Tonga’s EEZ.\r\n10. The Ocean 7 has prepared a consultation strategy for the marine spatial planning process.\r\n11. Ocean 7 is supporting a situation analysis of current marine compliance systems with a view to optimizing the use of all existing marine compliance resources.\r\n12. In May 2018, CD No. 273, noted the progress made and initiated the commencement of comprehensive consultations for the national marine spatial plan inclusive of a network of 30% marine protected areas.Challenges faced in implementation
Weak enforcement and compliance of existing legislation relating to fisheries activities and maritime uses\r\n\r\nno Marine tourism activities: yacht mooring, whale watching\r\n\r\nno Need for clear demarcation of zones for key fisheries species and conservation.\r\n\r\nno Strengthening legislation on surveillance and monitoring marine pollution.\r\n\r\nno A broad range of Special Management Area (SMA)issues which clearly reflect inconsistencies in the general public’s understanding of communities fisheries management. \r\n\r\nno Consideration of a limited number of whale fishing for food sources, as opposed to low-value nutrition of chicken. There is also a perception in the public that there is a sufficient number of whales.\r\n\r\nNeed for enforcement of current legislation on illegal fishing activitiesBeneficiaries
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