Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
AFD and Marine Protected Areas
The effective and coordinated management of protected areas: potential leverage for development. Marine protected areas are territories where the conservation of biodiversity should lead to economic benefits, especially for the local population. AFD is focusing on three main objectives in the structuring of its projects: conservation of ecosystems, economic development of the region and improvement of living conditions for neighbouring communities. Thus, a protected area becomes a territory that is set up and developed. AFD’s funding, whether granted or loaned, is allocated to three types of activities: actions for the creation and protection of ecological habitats, the participation of users and local people living inside or on the periphery of the protected areas in the coordinated management of resources, and promotion of economic activities that generate revenue for this population and are compatible with sustainable management.
