The Marine Conservation Division is responsible for the long-term protection and conservation of marine biodiversity and habitats for sustainable use while maximizing economic and social benefits derived from the coastal zone through the following activities:
- Management of Marine Protected Areas including the Blue Bay Marine Park and the Balaclava Marine Park as well as the six Fishing Reserves;
- Assessing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) applications and Preliminary Environmental Reports and submission of appropriate recommendations to the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change and representing the Ministry at the statutory EIA Committee;
- Carrying out long-term monitoring of the coral reef ecosystems and associated marine fauna and flora within the Blue Bay and Balaclava Marine Parks;
- Performing underwater ecological surveys around the island for the evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) applications, and coastal development projects falling within Marine Protected Areas;
- Carrying out Post EIA monitoring for projects along the coast as an enforcing agency,
- Regulate permissible activities through the issue of permits for the Blue Bay Marine Park and interference permits for Marine Protected Areas;
- Provide views and recommendations on projects, in the vicinity of or within wetlands, to the National Ramsar Committee;
- Sensitize the public on Marine Protected Areas, sustainable development and use of the coastal zone; and
- Setting up of coral nurseries in the Blue Bay and Balaclava Marine Parks to rehabilitate degraded areas of the marine parks.
Marine Protected Areas in Mauritius
The Republic of Mauritius has, so far, proclaimed 18 Marine Protected Areas 8 in Mauritius and 10 in Rodrigues. Presently, an estimated 13,953 ha of the marine environment are legally protected with 7,190 ha in Mauritius and 6,763 ha in Rodrigues.
The Marine Protected Areas in Mauritius include Blue Bay Marine Park, Balaclava Marine Park, Poste Lafayette Fishing Reserve, Poudre D'or Fishing Reserve, Trou d'Eau Douce Fishing Reserve, Port Louis Fishing Reserve, Grand Port Mahebourg Fishing Reserve and Rivière Noire Fishing Reserve.
The area coverage of Fishing Reserves of the Republic of Mauritius are:
- Black River Fishing Reserve (797 ha)
- Port Louis Fishing Reserve (331 ha)
- Poudre D'Or Fishing Reserve (2542 ha)
- Poste LaFayette Fishing Reserve (280 ha)
- Trou D'Eau Douce Fishing Reserve (574 ha)
- Grand Port Fishing Reserve (1828 ha)
Blue Bay Marine Park
The Blue Bay Marine Park is located in the South East of Mauritius and was proclaimed as a National Park under the Wildlife and National Parks Act 1993 in October 1997. It was then declared a Marine Protected Area and designated a Marine Park in June 2000 under the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act 1998. The Blue Bay Marine Park has been recognized as a wetland and as such it has been declared and listed as a Ramsar Site of international importance on 31 January 2008. It extends over an area of 353 hectares (3.5 km2) seaward, starting from Pointe Corps de Garde as its northernmost point up to Pointe Vacoas, its southernmost point. Blue Bay has been declared a marine park because it harbours a marine ecosystem of rare beauty in terms of diverse and rich communities of marine flora and fauna especially the coral reefs.
The Blue Bay Marine Park is managed through application of the Fisheries and the Marine Resources (Marine Protected Areas) Regulations which came into force in 2001 and amended in 2007. The regulations provide the different tools for the management of the park; namely, (a) Zoning system, (b) Permit system and (c) law enforcement and patrol. Coupled with the above tools, awareness/sensitisation campaigns and research/monitoring are also conducted for the management of the park.
Blue Bay Marine Park Centre (BBMPC)
The Blue Bay Marine Park Centre (BBMPC) was inaugurated in June 2016 and provides office space and facilities to officers of this Ministry for the control, surveillance and management of the Blue Bay Marine Park including the issue of various user permits. The BBMPC accommodates facilities for basic research. An exhibition facility sponsored by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was inaugurated on 26 July 2023. The purpose of the Exhibition facility is to promote awareness and disseminate knowledge on importance of marine ecosystems to students and public during their visit to BBMPC.
Balaclava Marine Park
The Balaclava Marine Park was proclaimed as a National Park in October 1997 under the Wildlife and National Parks Act, 1993. It was then declared a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and subsequently a Marine Park in June 2000 under the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act, 1998 which has now been amended to Fisheries Act 2023.
The Balaclava Marine Park is located on the North East coast of Mauritius in the Pamplemousses district, and it stretches from Petite Pointe aux Piments in the north to Batterie des Mortiers in the south. Balaclava Marine Park (BMP) covers an area of 485 ha constituting of coral reef, open sea, sand beaches, salt marsh and shoreline to the high-water mark. A coastal lagoon stretches the entire length of Balaclava Marine Park, and the boundary of the Park officially extends 1 km seaward from the fringing reef and lagoon.
The Balaclava Marine Park is managed through application of the Fisheries and the Marine Resources (Marine Protected Areas) Regulations which came into force in 2001 and amended in 2007. Balaclava Marine Park has been divided into different specific zones to provide protection to critical habitats, ecosystems and ecological processes, to conserve biological diversity, to cater for various permissible activities and to separate conflicting human activities.
