Day 1 — Marine Biodiversity and the Threats It Faces
Module 1: Introduction to Marine Biodiversity
- Genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity
- Marine ecosystem services: climate regulation, food, livelihoods, and coastal protection
- Key habitats: coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass, estuaries, deep sea, and polar regions
- Practical Exercise: Map the key habitats and ecosystem services of a coastal area you work with
Module 2: Threats to Marine Biodiversity
- Overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch, and destructive gear
- Pollution (plastics, chemicals, oil, nutrients), habitat loss, and invasive alien species
- Climate change impacts: warming, acidification, sea-level rise, and extreme events, and their cumulative effects
- Practical Exercise: Rank the main threats for a sample area and identify priority responses
Day 2 — Protected Areas and Species Conservation
Module 3: Marine Protected Areas and Area-Based Management
- Conservation rationales and goals of MPAs, and global area-based targets such as 30 by 30 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
- Types of area-based protection: no-take, multi-use, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), and ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs)
- Design principles: connectivity, representativeness, and resilience; effectiveness, monitoring, compliance, and governance
- Practical Exercise: Assess the design and governance of a sample MPA against good-practice criteria
Module 4: Species Conservation Strategies
- The IUCN Red List, CITES, and priority species
- Protecting marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks, and rays; reducing bycatch
- Restoration of keystone and threatened species
- Practical Exercise: Outline a conservation plan for one threatened marine species
Day 3 — Ecosystem-Based Management and Spatial Planning
Module 5: Ecosystem-Based Management and Marine Spatial Planning
- Principles and operationalisation of ecosystem-based management
- Adaptive management, monitoring, and stakeholder integration
- Marine spatial planning: processes, zoning for conservation, and resolving use conflicts
- Marine pollution prevention and response in brief: land-based sources, plastics, oil, and ballast water
- Practical Exercise: Draw up a simple zoning proposal for a sample coastal area and resolve a use conflict
Day 4 — Policy, Governance and Monitoring
Module 6: Policy, Governance, and Legal Frameworks
- International instruments: UNCLOS, the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, Ramsar, and MARPOL, and the BBNJ (High Seas Treaty) Agreement, which entered into force on 17 January 2026
- Regional seas agreements and national laws, such as South Africa's Marine Living Resources Act, National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, Integrated Coastal Management Act, and Marine Spatial Planning Act (confirm current detail)
- Enforcement, governance gaps, and transboundary issues
- Practical Exercise: Map the legal and institutional framework that applies to one marine area
Module 7: Monitoring, Assessment, and Reporting
- Techniques: visual surveys, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA (eDNA), and remote sensing
- Indicators, data management, and environmental impact assessment
- Reporting obligations
- Practical Exercise: Select five indicators and a monitoring approach for a sample MPA
Day 5 — Communities, Livelihoods and Future Directions
Module 8: Community Engagement, Livelihoods, and Emerging Issues
- Community roles, traditional knowledge, participatory governance, co-management, and benefit sharing
- Sustainable alternatives: ecotourism, aquaculture, and responsible fisheries; capacity building and conflict resolution
- Emerging issues: blue carbon, nature-based solutions, deep-sea mining, and balancing the blue economy with conservation
- Practical Exercise: Build a conservation action plan for your own area or organisation and present it to the group
Day 1 — Introduction to Marine Biodiversity
Module 1: Introduction to Marine Biodiversity
- Definitions and levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity
- Marine ecosystem services: climate regulation, food, livelihoods, and coastal protection
- Overview of key habitats: coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass, deep sea, estuaries, and polar regions
- Global biodiversity hotspots and flagship species
- Practical Exercise: Map the key habitats and ecosystem services of a coastal area you work with
Day 2 — Threats to Marine Biodiversity
Module 2: Threats to Marine Biodiversity
- Overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch, and destructive gear, including ghost fishing gear
- Pollution: plastics, chemicals, oil, and nutrients
- Habitat destruction: coastal development, dredging, and climate-driven change
- Climate change impacts: warming, acidification, sea-level rise, and extreme events
- Invasive alien species and cumulative impacts
- Practical Exercise: Rank the main threats for a sample area and identify priority responses
Day 3 — Marine Protected Areas and Area-Based Management
Module 3: Marine Protected Areas and Area-Based Management
- Conservation rationales and goals of MPAs, and global targets such as 30 by 30 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
- Types: no-take, multi-use, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), and ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs)
- Design principles: connectivity, representativeness, and resilience
- Effectiveness: monitoring, compliance, and governance, including paper parks versus effectively managed MPAs
- Practical Exercise: Assess the design and governance of a sample MPA against good-practice criteria
Day 4 — Species Conservation Strategies
Module 4: Species Conservation Strategies
- The IUCN Red List, CITES, and priority species
- Protection of marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks, and rays, and reducing bycatch
- Restoration of keystone and threatened species
- Best practice in threatened species management
- Practical Exercise: Outline a conservation plan for one threatened marine species
Day 5 — Ecosystem-Based Management and Marine Spatial Planning
Module 5: Ecosystem-Based Management and Marine Spatial Planning
- Principles and operationalisation of ecosystem-based management
- Adaptive management, monitoring, and stakeholder integration
- Marine spatial planning: processes, conflict resolution, and zoning for conservation
- Case studies in integrated management
- Practical Exercise: Draw up a simple zoning proposal for a sample coastal area and resolve a use conflict
Day 6 — Marine Pollution Prevention and Response
Module 6: Marine Pollution Prevention and Response
- Land-based and marine sources: plastics, nutrients, and oil
- Mitigation strategies: reduce, reuse, recycle, clean-up, and restoration, and the policy context for plastic pollution
- Ballast water management and invasive species prevention
- Emergency response planning, including oil-spill contingency planning
- Practical Exercise: Draft an outline spill or pollution response plan for a coastal site
Day 7 — Policy, Governance, and Legal Frameworks
Module 7: Policy, Governance, and Legal Frameworks
- International instruments: UNCLOS, the Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, Ramsar, and MARPOL
- The BBNJ (High Seas Treaty) Agreement, in force since 17 January 2026: high seas MPAs, environmental impact assessment, marine genetic resources, and capacity building; the first Conference of the Parties is due within a year of entry into force
- Regional seas agreements, such as the Nairobi Convention, and national laws, such as South Africa's Marine Living Resources Act, National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, Integrated Coastal Management Act, and Marine Spatial Planning Act (confirm current detail)
- Enforcement, governance gaps, and transboundary issues; the role of NGOs and intergovernmental organisations
- Practical Exercise: Map the legal and institutional framework that applies to one marine area
Day 8 — Monitoring, Assessment, and Reporting
Module 8: Monitoring, Assessment, and Reporting
- Techniques: visual surveys, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA (eDNA), and remote sensing
- Data management, indicator selection, and database design
- Environmental impact assessments (EIAs), strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), and international reporting obligations
- Practical Exercise: Select indicators and design a monitoring programme for a sample MPA
Day 9 — Community Engagement and Sustainable Livelihoods
Module 9: Community Engagement and Sustainable Livelihoods
- Community roles and traditional and local knowledge
- Participatory governance, co-management, and benefit sharing
- Sustainable alternatives: ecotourism, aquaculture, and responsible fisheries
- Capacity building and conflict resolution
- Practical Exercise: Role-play a stakeholder negotiation over a proposed protected area
Day 10 — Emerging Issues and Future Directions
Module 10: Emerging Issues and Future Directions
- Deep-sea biodiversity and mining: the status of international seabed rules and the debate over a moratorium
- Climate adaptation: blue carbon, nature-based solutions, and ocean acidification
- Innovation: AI, autonomous monitoring, and new finance models
- Balancing the blue economy with conservation priorities
- Practical Exercise: Build a conservation action plan for your own area or organisation and present it to the group
The course instructor may adjust the programme for technical reasons, but the course objectives will always be met. Marine policy moves quickly, so legal and policy examples are updated to current positions at delivery. The 5-Day Essentials is shown first; the 10-Day Advanced Programme follows.
