Ecological connectivity to maximise biodiversity conservation between marine protected areas in the Southwest Indian Ocean - SIOMPA 2023

The Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) basin is a globally recognized hotspot of endemism and biodiversity. It is home to many spatially fragmented Marine Protected Areas (MPA), which are essential in maintaining marine ecosystems. A crucial element, which requires further investigation, is the ecological connectivity, often highlighted in the design of MPAs and the guarantees of conservation success.

This ecological connectivity governs the exchange of marine species moving across spatially fragmented habitats during their different life stages. The establishment of a powerful regional network of MPAs would help to promote the notion of linking management actions as well as to develop bold initiatives to achieve conservation goals.

Detailed knowledge of the distribution, movements, and interactions of marine species with their oceanic environment between different marine protected areas is essential for implementing effective marine spatial planning strategies, for assessing the effectiveness of marine protected areas, and identifying new areas to be protected as a priority.

This collaborative regional research call for proposals will have the broader objective of supporting projects studying the evolution, functioning and dynamics of the socio-ecosystems of the region, in all their diversity, and will draw on a wide range of scientific disciplines (from physical, biological, and ecological sciences to human, social and economic sciences), through the following questions:

1. What harmonised environmental monitoring of the MPAs of the area?
    
2. How are the ecosystems of the region structured and/or connected?
    
3. What are the various anthropogenic impacts on the ecological states of the ecosystems and what measures should be proposed to reduce these impacts?
    
4. What are the links between the ecological state of the ecosystems, the protection measures and the populations of the socio-ecosystems concerned?

This transdisciplinary call for research projects between France, South Africa and regional partners aims to address the efficiency of marine biodiversity conservation with inputs from research on connectivity and expected impacts of climate change for instance. This call will be supported by Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) from France, the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, Fundo Nacional de Investigação (FNI) of Mozambique, National Research Fund (NRF) of Kenya, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), and Seychelles. Parters are exploring support from Agence Française pour le Développement (AFD;) from France to fund other countries of the region.

The launch of this call, through a single stage evaluation process, is scheduled for the end of 2022, with a submission deadline of proposals planned between March and May 2023.