IUCN Marks Africa Day of Seas and Oceans by Calling for a Decade of Ocean Regeneration and Strengthened South–South Action

To mark this decadal crossover, we’re sharing opportunities and highlights from five Great Blue Wall projects: #BBNJ, #WIOCOR, #IslandPlas, Pamoja Tu hifadhi Bahari Yetu and #ReSea.

Sign up for our #BBNJInformationSeries here 

These monthly webinars, kicking off in August, aim to foster regional understanding and cooperation to strengthen Africa’s capacity to implement the BBNJ Agreement. The first webinar, "Africa and the BBNJ Agreement," will provide participants with an overview of the Agreement and an opportunity to discuss opportunities and obligations for Africa. September’s webinar will focus on the Agreement’s Preparatory Commission and the first Conference of the Parties. October’s will explore the BBNJ Agreement’s role in the #ocean-biodiversity-climate nexus as we prepare for UNFCCC #COP30, and for the last webinar, we encourage you to fill out the form so we can tailor the session to suit your interests.

The Great Blue Wall Initiative supercharging the BBNJ agreement across Western Indian Ocean

The Great Blue Wall Initiative, led by African countries and supported by the IUCN and partners, is Africa’s flagship response to the triple crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution. Through an interconnected network of regenerative seascapes, the initiative is advancing:

• Blue Economy Transformation: Unlocking sustainable finance, policy, science and innovation to support system-level transformations as well as local blue enterprises and community livelihoods;
• Nature-Based Solutions: Restoring mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs through local stewardship and scientific partnerships.
• Ocean Health and Governance: Supporting African leadership in international negotiations, and strengthening science–policy interfaces from national to regional levels, including on the BBNJ Agreement and action on plastic pollution.

With work underway in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Great Blue Wall is scaling impact that positions Africa as a rising force in ocean action, providing a bold model for South–South collaboration and seascape-level governance and aims to contribute. It also builds on the continental vision laid out in the 2023 Moroni Declaration, a joint African Union–IUCN-UNECA-IOC-UNDP call to accelerate ocean-based climate action and a regenerative blue economy across the continent. Through an interconnected network of regenerative seascapes, the initiative is advancing:

The Western Indian Ocean Coastal and Ocean Resilience-  WIOCOR project, with support from the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) is advancing coastal and ocean resilience across the Great Blue Wall seascapes, with a particular focus on #seagrass, which plays an important nursery, shoreline protection and climate regulation function. Over $800,000 in microgrants are being regranted to local organisations for seagrass conservation, #NatureBasedSolutions, and climate adaptation across Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania. In collaboration with WIOMSA, a regional seagrass status report is underway to strengthen evidence-based action. WIOCOR also supports the upcoming GBW Fellowship and the Natural Capital Financing Symposium to accelerate leadership and investment in nature-positive solutions. 

ISLANDPLAS is supporting African island states to tackle plastic pollution through circular economy solutions. The project is currently establishing implementation frameworks with national partners to accelerate plastic material recovery and transformation, assessing in-country plastic flows, and supporting co-design of locally-driven approaches and circular innovation.

Pamoja Tuhifadhi Bahari Yetu Project, a marine and coastal conservation initiative focusing on protecting Tanzania’s coastal ecosystems and improving the livelihood of the communities surrounding the ecosystem. Funded by the European Delegation to Tanzania and the EAC under the Blue Economy for Job Creation and Climate Change Adaptation programme in partnership with WWF-Tanzania, The Nature Conservancy - Tanzania, Forum for Climate Change and Wildlife Conservation Society- Tanzania.

The Regenerative Seascapes for People, Climate and Nature Program (ReSea Project) aims to enhance the physical and socioeconomic resilience of coastal communities to the adverse impacts of climate change in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. On this African week of Seas and Oceans, the ReSea Project, led by IUCN and Mission Inclusion with the support of Global Affairs Canada, highlights its growing impact across the WIO. In its first year alone, the project directly reached 8,210 individuals, i.e. 53% women and 37% youth, demonstrating a strong commitment to gender equality and youth inclusion in coastal resilience and conservation efforts. 

Beyond direct community engagement, ReSea’s awareness efforts reached over 343,000 people through publications, digital outreach, and social media platforms. The project also delivered targeted capacity-building, training 130 local actors in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for climate adaptation, and identifying 15 community-driven, nature-based value chains across Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Comoros. 

At the regional level, inclusive governance was strengthened through 52% female representation in the Great Blue Wall Secretariat, while collaboration with five Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) ensured that gender-responsive approaches were embedded across all five seascapes. These early achievements represent a meaningful step toward transforming marine conservation and inclusive blue economy development in the WIO region. 

As part of IUCN’s BBNJ project and its Voices Beyond Blue Campaign, and with the support of the High Seas Alliance and the Minderoo Foundation, the documentary “Ocean with David Attenborough" was screened across some ESARO countries, including Kenya, Seychelles and Mauritius. These screenings brought together key stakeholders from the government, diplomatic corps, private sector, civil society, local communities and youth, to the general public, raising awareness on marine biodiversity and its challenges, especially in the High Seas, and catalysing collective action for ocean protection.

Call to Action

As we move towards the #WorldConservationCongress, IUCN calls for the launch of a new Decade for #OceanRegeneration and #Equity, one that places African and Southern voices at the heart of a global transition toward inclusive, #naturepositive, and #climateresilient ocean economies, centring ocean-dependent communities, harnessing African leadership, and strengthening #SouthSouth cooperation. Through continued collaboration, investment, and innovation, we can build a future where ocean regeneration is not just a goal but a reality.