The Protected Areas FoundationRegistered

The object of the CIO is to advance the protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment for the benefit of the public by: a) developing the capacity and skills of coastal communities to effectively manage protected areas, particularly but not exclusively coastal and marine protected areas. and b) developing sustainable finance and governance mechanisms with stakeholders to support community management of these protected areas. In this clause, a protected area is 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 (Dudley, 2008). In furtherance of the above, the CIO will focus on areas that are already formally designated as protected areas, through extensive national evidence, for conservation by statutory bodies. These include but are not limited to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Sites/Areas of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs/ASSIs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar Sites.