Western Indian Ocean Islands

Marine and coastal ecosystems are characterized by their biodiversity richness and have crucial ecosystem goods and services that highly contribute to livelihood of people and economic development of a nation.  Various sectors that link to marine and coastal ecosystems services such as fisheries, tourism, marine transportation, oil production,… are important for economic development for a given country. Unfortunately marine resources are threatened by various human pressures and natural catastrophe such as overfishing, pollution, and climate change.