Marine Atlas: Maximizing Benefits for Tonga

MANAGING The marine and coastal ecosystems of Tonga’s waters provide benefits for people in and beyond Tonga. To better understand and improve the effective management of these values on the ground, Pacific Island countries, including Tonga, are increasingly building institutional and personal capacities for planning and management.

grounds. In addition, Tonga has made strong national commitments to effectively manage its marine resources, which are embedded in region- al and international efforts and commitments, such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the United Nations Oceans Conference in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Pa- cific Oceanscape Framework. These management efforts can be effectively supported by marine planning efforts.

To maximize benefits from these marine values for Tonga, national and regional stakeholders are work- ing together to document effective approaches to sustainable marine resource management and con- servation. This chapter encourages stakeholders to share tried and tested concepts and instruments more widely throughout the Oceania region.

However, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, as Pacific Islanders possess centuries of traditional management knowledge. Coupled with scientific approaches and lessons learned, this knowledge can strengthen effective management of the re- gion’s rich natural capital. The maps in this chapter showcase marine man- agement in Tonga that starts at the local level, based on the management of traditional fishing

Further Reading: http://macbio-pacific.info/ effective-management

MAXIMIZING BENEFITS FOR TONGA

MANAGING

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