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Moving forward with marine spatial planning in the Noethern Mozambique Channel

Posted on 10 April 2025

The waters of the Northern Mozambique Channel – a vibrant marine corridor bordering five countries in the South West Indian Ocean (Mozambique, Madagascar, Seychelles, the Union of Comoros and the United Republic of Tanzania) – are a lifeline for coastal communities, a hub for shipping and energy, and a sanctuary for marine life.

However, with growing pressures from fishing, oil and gas exploration, climate change and weak governance, this region is being threatened.
As such, the @Nairobi Convention Secretariat and @WWF SWIO have co-organized a workshop this week in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to validate technical guidelines for marine spatial planning (MSP) in the Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC) and to co-develop innovative tools for the region’s governance as part of the “Integrated Management of the marine and coastal resources of the Northern Mozambique Channel” (NoCaMo) Project.
From 7 to 11 April, the workshop will unite delegates from the Channel’s five bordering countries, as well as partner organizations with varying backgrounds and expertise: Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, The Nature Conservancy Tanzania, Wildlife Conservation Society Tanzania, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, IUCN ESARO, AU-IBAR, Wild Trust. The workshop is made possible by the continued financial support from NORAD Norway, FFEM, Office Français de la Biodiversité and WWF Sweden.
The objectives of the workshop are:
•⁠  ⁠To finalize and validate the MSP technical guidelines for the NMC region, and identify the way forward on the MSP process for the NMC region – led by consultants from Nelson Mandela University
•⁠  ⁠To co-develop the NMC Digital Twin Prototype – led by consultants from Breda University of Applied Sciences
•⁠  ⁠To communicate the process for the execution of the Natural Capital Assessment – led by consultants from Prime Africa

The history of marine spatial planning in the NMC
The NoCaMo Project has been supporting MSP initiatives in the NMC region based on the principles of transformative integrated ocean governance.  These principles ensure that all stakeholders have a voice in policy conversations that result in commonly agreed decisions pertaining to blue resources, with the ultimate aim of ensuring that the ecosystem assets and services of the NMC are sustainably managed for the benefit of both people and nature.
In May and August 2024, two workshops were organized to develop an MSP vision and roadmap for the NMC region that align with existing frameworks and strategies for the Western Indian Ocean endorsed by the Nairobi Convention. These workshops built on previous decisions taken by the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Conference of Parties (CoP) of the Nairobi Convention, which identified the need for transboundary protection of marine resources and highlighted the NMC as a good example for an integrated approach to ocean management.