Marine Atlas: Maximizing Benefits for Tonga

TONGA’S COMMITMENT TO MARINE CONSERVATION

Tonga is committed to sustainably managing and conserving its marine values.

• Ministry of Internal Affairs • Ministry of Commerce, Consumer, Trade, Inno- vation and Labour (Department of Tourism) • Ministry of Infrastructure and Tourism (Marine Division) With MACBIO’s assistance, the Ocean 7 has al- ready developed the following building blocks for its marine spatial plan: • A vision and set of objectives • An analysis of the legal basis for a marine spatial plan • A national marine ecosystem service valuation • A typology of different ocean management areas • A report on the SUMAs of Tonga and a report classifying the entire marine environment into bioregions • Placement guidelines for the ocean management areas and a draft national consultation strategy Next steps include finalizing the placement guide- lines, preparing the consultation materials and initiating the consultations on a marine spatial plan for the country.

The Tongan government recognized the impor- tance of spatial management with the launch of their National Spatial Planning and Manage- ment Act. In 2015, for the first time in Tongan history, three ministries submitted a joint paper to the Cabinet to initiate MSP for the nation (Ministry of Meteor- ology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communica- tions (MEIDECC), Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) and Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries (MAFFF)). This was passed on 22 July 2015. In this paper, the Cabinet decided that cross-sectoral planning and coordi- nation would be required. Thus, the Ocean 7 was established—Tonga’s Marine Spatial Planning Technical Working Group. The working group is co-chaired by the three ministries that prepared the original cabinet paper and also includes the following four ministries (thus comprising the Ocean 7), as well as the Tonga Ports Authority: • Ministry of Finance and National Planning (Departments of Finance and the National Planning Authority)

its marine values. In this spirit, Tonga submit- ted seven Voluntary Commitments (VCs) to the United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2017. One of these VCs was the call to develop parts of Tonga’s waters as “Whale Sanctuaries”. The other VCs included adoption of Tonga’s Marine Spatial Plan, increasing the number of SMAs and efforts to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. “The Ocean Conference has changed our rela- tionship with the ocean. Henceforth none can say they were not aware of the harm humanity has done to the ocean’s health. We are now working around the world to restore a relationship of bal- ance and respect towards the ocean,” said the President of the United Nations General Assem- bly Peter Thomson, from Fiji, at the closing of the United Nations Ocean Conference. The 193 Member States of the United Nations unanimously agreed to a set of measures that aim to reverse the decline of the ocean’s health. The “Call for Action” outcome document, together with more than 1,300 commitments to action, marks a breakthrough in the global approach to the management and conservation of the ocean. Recognizing that the well-being of present and future generations is inextricably linked to the health and productivity of the ocean, countries collectively agreed in the Call to Action “to act decisively and urgently, convinced that our col- lective action will make a meaningful difference to our people, to our planet and to our prosperity”. The second highest number of commitments come from the South Pacific, highlighting not only the importance of the ocean to Pacific Island countries, but also their commitment to “Con- serve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” (SDG 14). Tonga is calling for action to conserve valuable life below the surface, within its own waters and beyond.

This is testament to the fact that Tonga is com- mitted to sustainably managing and conserving

MANAGING MAXIMIZING BENEFITS FOR TONGA

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