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Three southern African countries combine shared governance and regional cooperation to safeguard one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems. 

Imagine an ocean ecosystem so productive that its cold, nutrient-churning waters feed nearly 40 million people, and yet only one percent of it is protected. This is the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, one of the world’s four most productive marine ecosystems. It is also the subject of a new kind of conservation experiment: one built on protection and a tri-national partnership.

Launched in 2023, the Blue Benguela Partnership brings together Angola, Namibia, and South Africa in a rare, region-wide effort to protect and sustainably manage their shared ocean. At its heart are three collaborating organizations: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Blue Nature Alliance, and the Benguela Current Convention.

Nico Willemse, the Blue Nature Alliance’s regional lead for Africa, says that when Angola, Namibia, and South Africa signed onto the Convention, it became “a legally binding document that commits the three countries to protect and sustainably use the resources of the ecosystem into perpetuity.”

The conservation effort builds on nearly three decades of regional cooperation, leveraging the Convention’s established framework for governance.

“It is also aligned with the national development priorities of all three countries in the region,” says Caitlynne Francis, manager of TNC’s Blue Benguela Program.

30 By 30

The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem is a heaving conveyor belt of silver-scaled sardines, emerald kelp forests, and the haunting cries of African penguins. But overfishing, habitat loss, and long-term shifts in weather patterns place a growing strain on it.

Right now, this ecosystem is only about 1% protected, with most of that coverage concentrated in South Africa. Angola has   no marine protected areas, while Namibia has just one.

The partnership’s near-term goal is to raise protection to between 10 and 15% within the next two to five years and to push toward 30% by 2030, in line with global goals. (See “The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” targeting protection of 30% of  all the world’s oceans by 2030.)

“We’ve identified the areas known as ecologically or biologically significant  areas,” says Willemse. “In both Angola and Namibia, we have principal agreement with government to transition those areas to marine protected areas.”

In South Africa, the focus is on improving management of 10 marine protected areas, and a new site of 69,972 square miles is also in the pipeline.

Protected waters will benefit more than food species. Willemse says African penguins, for instance, have been a major concern.

“There’s competition for food and space,” he explains. “Many times, they get in conflict with fishermen, and with other uses of marine space, such as mining and exploration.”

Eyes in the Sky

The partnership is also committed to the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and one of the Alliance’s technology partners offers a satellite-based platform  called Skylight.

“Skylight conducts satellite observations across vast distances of ocean space,” says Willemse. “The data is so thorough that you can click on a vessel on the screen to see the vessel number, where it’s registered, and where it comes from.” For governments with limited capacity and resources for enforcement, satellite information about illegal activity is cost-effective for monitoring fisheries.

“There’s this misconception that you have   to balance economy and conservation, but they’re not competing,” says Jeff Ardon, TNC’s Africa oceans director. “They go hand in hand. If you do it right, you get maximum economic yield — bigger, healthier fish coming from protected areas.”

Despite obstacles — such as upcoming elections in Angola and competing demands on officials’ time in Namibia — there is cautious optimism. Willemse says that the tide of community attitudes is shifting in South Africa, for instance.

“Communities are now the ones who bring up the idea of conservation,” he says. “The fishermen, especially the generational fishing families, talk about changes in the ocean over the last 50 years. They’ve seen the changes in fish size and the distribution of species.”

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Emma Davies is an award-winning journalist and a contributing editor for Coastwatch. She is pursuing a master’s in liberal studies at NC State University, with a concentration in communication and genetic engineering.

lead photo credit: Diego Delso/CC-BY-SA 4.0.