Building a Regional Seagrass Strategy & Bridging Science to Policy Interactive Special Session at the 13th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium
Friday, October 3, 14:00 – 17:30 Room 8 (Barracuda), PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort
Seagrass meadows are the unsung heroes of our coasts, supporting fisheries, protecting shores, and building climate resilience. While scientific understanding of these vital ecosystems is growing, seagrasses remain one of the least protected and managed ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
This session offers a crucial opportunity to learn about ongoing seagrass work and help shape a Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Regional Seagrass Strategy that will outline a vision and action plan for the future. We invite researchers, policymakers, and community stakeholders to lend their expertise in collaboratively developing this strategy. This landmark effort, spearheaded by the Nairobi Convention and supported by WIOMSA, the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT), and The Pew Charitable Trust, aims to better integrate seagrass conservation into national management strategies, climate policies, blue economy frameworks, and ocean governance structures.
Your expertise is needed to ensure the regional strategy is robust, relevant, and ready for real-world impact. This is a crucial consultation step that builds on previous milestones, including the Nairobi Convention’s 11th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP11) Decision to develop a regional seagrass strategy and action plan, along with discussions held with the WIO Consortium, and ongoing science-policy dialogues across the region.
Outputs from this session will directly inform the Regional Seagrass Strategy session and contribute to the development of the strategy itself.
Why Your Voice Matters
This is a crucial consultation and validation step that builds on previous milestones, including the Nairobi Convention COP11 mandate, WIO-C discussions, and ongoing science-policy dialogues across the region. We need your expertise to ensure the regional strategy is robust, relevant, and ready for real-world impact.
Influence Policy: Your input will directly inform the drafting of the strategy aimed for submission to the Nairobi Convention COP12 taking place in 2026, offering an important opportunity to shape a significant regional policy.
Bridge the Gap: Connect with a diverse group of leading scientists, government representatives, and management authorities from across the WIO region, all focused on a common goal.
Drive Action: Engage in vibrant, interactive formats including a high-level panel Q&A and moderated roundtable. Your insights will help identify priorities, challenges, and sustainable financing solutions. Towards those goals, the session will:
- Provide an overview of the development process of the Western Indian Ocean Regional Seagrass Strategy being developed through the Nairobi Convention
- Launch a discussion paper and facilitate roundtable discussions that will inform the development of the Regional Seagrass Strategy
- Gather recommendations for the development of the Regional Seagrass Strategy
This Regional Seagrass Strategy session is part of the broader Seagrass Special Session at the symposium that includes a morning segment, convened by IUCN ESARO, COI RECOS, and WIOMSA, titled “SS048 – Scaling Up Seagrass Science and Stewardship for Socio-Ecological Resilience and a Regenerative Blue Economy in the Western Indian Ocean.” Where a WIO Seagrass Status report will be launched, providing a deep dive of the current baseline for seagrass in the region across all countries and sets the stage for the Regional Seagrass Strategy session to follow.
This initiative is a collaborative effort and we look forward to your valuable contribution.