Expanding the Tools of Ocean Conservation | Rare

In the wake of the historic Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by 188 nations in 2022, countries are now tasked with designing pathways to achieve ambitious 30×30 goals to protect 30% of the planet’s land and water by 2030.

Traditional conservation measures have focused on increasing protected area coverage, setting aside land and water for biodiversity and nature conservation objectives. In the oceans, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to limit human activity, such as drilling, mining, and fishing.

But, 500 million coastal people around the world depend on small-scale fisheries for food security and livelihoods. These communities are often on the frontlines of climate change, facing warming waters, decreasing fish populations, and increasingly dangerous storms that place both marine biodiversity and the communities that rely on them in jeopardy.

When areas of high biodiversity intersect with human needs, we must expand the conservation toolbox. One such tool is the Other Effective area-based Conservation Measure (OECM). 

What are OECMs?

OECMs are a conservation tool used to protect ocean ecosystems while still allowing for their sustainable use by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Rare works with communities to establish a type of OECM within the first 12 nautical miles of ocean (known as the “Community Seas”) that allows local fishers to fish sustainably in them, while setting aside a part of the area as a no-take reserve, where fishing is off limits. This no-take zone helps fish populations repopulate and spillover into the fishing grounds. 

Often managed by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, OECMs  complement traditional MPAs by balancing protection and sustainable use to advance equitable and effective conservation.

OECMs were formally recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2018 and were included as part of the 30×30 target of the Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. Now, countries are developing national 30×30 strategies that incorporate both MPAs and OECMs together to protect their ocean resources.

Why OECMs?

OECMs are core to Rare’s people-centered approach to conserve the Community Seas, the nearshore waters home to most of the world’s small-scale fisheries – and almost 90% of all marine biodiversity. Rare works with coastal communities and local governments to design & implement OECMs that ensure preferential rights to nearshore waters for local fishers while also establishing complementary no-take marine reserves within or adjacent to the fishing areas to support rebuilding fisheries.  

A 2024 Rare co-authored study in Indonesia found that OECMs can spatially contribute over 3% (approximately 10.2 million hectares) to marine conservation in Indonesia, a making substantial  impact on the country’s commitment to the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Other studies have shown that involving local and Indigenous communities in the participatory management of marine areas increases fish biomass. On average, communities at Rare’s program sites where there is available data have seen a 50% increase in fish biomass in the reserve and a 6% increase in the managed access area per year. The expansion of fish populations in the reserve area spills over into the managed access area at a rate that can sustain the communities’ fishing needs.

Rare’s Work on OECMs

To learn more about Rare’s work on OECMs and our policy priorities, visit our Policy at Rare page.