The First International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas

networking, often still used among indigenous communities, can foster communication,
collaboration, and linkages among MMPAs.
Participants agreed on the following key messages and recommendations.
Key Messages:
• Recognizing indigenous knowledge – in all of its diversity – is just as important
as science in the design and implementation of MPAs. <strong>The</strong>re is a huge diversity
and wealth of traditional knowledge (including practical, management-relevant
knowledge) about marine mammals that could be drawn upon to inform
scientific enquiry. We consider our cultural practices to be as scientific as
western/modern methods and practices.
• Across the Pacific Ocean, whales and indigenous peoples have a shared culture
of connection, a shared culture of migration, and a shared culture of loss.
Further, the interactions of Pacific peoples with marine mammals were often
governed by clear rules and protocols (e.g., in regard to stranded animals),
extensive knowledge of these animals, and respect for them as treasured,
ancestral creatures. Today, these connections remain and transcend modern
partitioning of the ocean and the way it is governed. Incorporating the diversity
of cultural knowledge and perspectives is a potential way to unite efforts,
including the development of MMPAs and particularly strengthening MMPA
networks.
• <strong>The</strong> design and development of MPAs should be based on local needs and
knowledge, not only on the need to protect biodiversity. Local and cultural
stakeholders should be directly involved and consulted in the development and
ongoing management of MPAs.
• Recognizing and including traditional knowledge in planning processes and
implementation of MPAs is also conservation of culture.
• Traditional marine tenure systems should be used to enhance the management of
marine mammals, including where government capacity to fulfill this role is
lacking.
• We collectively claim our traditional/indigenous knowledge for ourselves and
will not wait for others to recognize that knowledge. We will integrate the use of
our knowledge to enhance marine mammal management at any appropriate
opportunity.
Key Recommendations:
• Cultural values and knowledge of marine mammals and the need to protect them
– sometimes through MPAs – transcend modern political boundaries (e.g.,
EEZs) that have led to artificial divisions among us. Cultural links throughout
the Pacific may be the key to overcoming these divisions and may help us unify
management efforts regionally and internationally.
• A united Pacific voice is needed to recognize what has been lost and what has
been taken through the harvest and exploitation of our ancestral treasures,
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