Varuna_AMP – RNF

The project “Network of Marine Protected Area Managers” (Varuna_AMP) is funded by AFD, coordinated by Expertise France, and implemented by Réserves Naturelles de France under the VARUNA program.

The project supports networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southwest Indian Ocean region. It aims to share tools, practices, and experiences to enhance sustainable management of local marine protected areas.

Intervention Zones: Comoros Union, Madagascar, Mauritius, France, Seychelles

Activities:

• Prefiguration animation and development of a roadmap for 2023-2025
• Network support services: recruitment of a coordinator, member databases, dedicated website
• Organization of training sessions: 1 to 2 per year on common and regional themes
• Organization of technical meetings
• Support for technical collaborations and partnerships
• Implementation and capitalization of collective interest actions: implementation of a call for projects
• Participation in supra-national (Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Areas Management Network, International Marine
• Protected Areas Congress, Smart Seas) and infra-national (national or local) MPA network dynamics
• Preparation for the post-2025 period to ensure the sustainability of the network

Partners:

• French Biodiversity Agency (Office Français de la Biodiversité – OFB)
• Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Area Network (WIOMPAN)
• Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)
• MPA Managers from each country