Can social inclusion benefit ecosystems?

With 17,500 islands and 54,000 km of coastline, Indonesia is heavily dependent on its marine ecosystems. However, these areas are currently under strain due to significant demographic, economic, and ecological pressures. From this perspective, marine protected areas (MPAs) enable the preservation of these environments and their biodiversity through the establishment of sustainable economic activity (tourism and fishing). While an integrated and participatory approach, reconciling environmental objectives and social justice, would improve their effectiveness, coastal communities neighboring MPAs are rarely involved in their management. This is why the SMERU Institute, with the support of AFD and the EU Research Facility on Inequality, has designed a toolkit to integrate poverty and inequality reduction into MPA governance. Tested through a pilot training program, it offers concrete methods to strengthen community participation and improve management.