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The Marine Mammal Twinning at the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress

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On February 4th and 5th, the Twinning introduced the Marine Mammals Management Toolkit at two separate events during the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Vancouver, Canada, highlighting the toolkit as a innovative tool for marine mammal management within MPAs.

The first presentation was part of the session “Effectively Managing MPAs: New Tools for Resilience and Marine Mammal Management” hosted in partnership with the Resilience Twinning from the EU funded Ocean Governance project. The presentation provided the opportunity to officially present the newly developed Community of Practice as the 4th core component of the Toolkit on an international forum. Following an introduction of the Toolkit, Mammal Twinning partner Sarah Manuel, from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (Bermuda) delivered a case study on the application of the Marine Mammals Management Toolkit in the Bermuda Marine Mammal Sanctuary, with a specific focus on using the Toolkit to create a baseline assessment of the threats in the Sanctuary and inform the development of the new Marine Spatial Plan.

The second presentation delivered as part of the session “Innovative Tools For Coastal Resilience And Marine Mammals For Managers: EU Ocean Governance For MPAs” hosted by the EU Ocean Governance, provided an opportunity to further showcase the Toolkit to MPA managers. Presenting the various activities of the Twinning and the components of the Toolkit, the Twinning representative highlighted how MPA managers can utilise the toolkit to enable the contribution, support and implementation of, international policies.

IMPAC5 was also a great opportunity for the Twinning to strengthen existing collaborations and partnership, which included the International Whaling Commission and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Moreover, the team also continued to promote the Toolkit and the newly launched Community of Practice and had the chance to engage with representatives of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Area Networks (WIOMPAN), leading discussions on the use of the Toolkit in the Western Indian Ocean region and its contribution to the bettering of marine mammal conservation.

Finally, The Marine Mammal Twinning recognises, and thanks, the Host First Nations – xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ(Tsleil-Waututh) – for welcoming us to their traditional territories for this Congress.

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