• The Republic of Congo, with the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organisations, has created the country’s first three Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), protecting marine resources and coastal habitats across more than 4,000 square kilometers and representing 12 per cent of Congo’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 

• The three MPAs are: a marine extension to Conkouati-Douli National Park along the border with Gabon, Loango MPA and Mvassa MPA.

• The area includes globally important nesting grounds for leatherback turtles, and critical migrating and breeding habitat for a number of marine mammals including the Atlantic humpback whale. 

• It is home to the ocean’s largest fish, the open ocean whale shark, and more than 40 species of sharks and rays. 

• It is also home to some of the most productive coastal and offshore fisheries in the world, making a large contribution to the food security of local communities. 

Marine protected areas

• Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one policy instrument available that have the potential to address several of the pressures on marine biodiversity, in particular overfishing and exploitation and habitat destruction. 

• In addition to protecting rare and threatened species and their habitats and other areas of ecological importance, MPAs can help ensure the sustainable provision of multiple other ecosystem services that are fundamental for human well-being, including for fisheries, coastal protection (buffering against storms and erosion), tourism and recreation. 

• MPAs have been receiving increasing attention from policy makers as an instrument for marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. 

• MPAs can be defined as “a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”.

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