Back to projects Southern Africa

Developing a management plan for Mondrain Reserve (Mauritius) and improving accessibility for greater protected area management, effectiveness and visibility

Terrestrial protected area Key biodiversity area Privately protected area

Management effectiveness

Local communities Private sector National or local PA agency

Management Plan

42,333.79 EUR Mauritius; Southern Africa December 1, 2020 - November 30, 2021

Protected and conserved area(s) concerned

Mondrain Reserve

The BIOPAMA AC Objectives addressed

Enhance the management and governance of priority protected areas by addressing existing limitations.

Priority need addressed

Development of a management plan for the conservation of a key area of Mauritian biodiversity;
Updating the METT Analysis;
Easing access to the reserve for conservation work, research, education and eco-tourism.

Project activities

There are two main activities for this project:

1. The development of a management plan, which will provide a clear vision for the future of the reserve and a how to prioritise activities, in a time-bound and costed manner. The plan will be developed through a stakeholder site visit to the Mondrain reserve to establish the broad management objectives, an updated METT analysis (which will feed into the development of the management plan) and two stakeholder workshops to further gather views of field staff, horticulturists, managers, from MWF and its partners in government, private sector, academia etc. Views will be collated and draft circulated for discussion and finalisation during the workshops, in a stepwise process.

2. The purchase of a dedicated 4×4 vehicle, will improve access to the reserve and improve the management of the reserve for managers, scientists, community members and other stakeholders, help in conducting small group visits by students and tourists (which may be expanded in the future), improve monitoring and evaluation, increase research and provide transportation for labourers working in the reserve.

The change the project implementation will bring for the protected area(s)

The development of management plan will increase the effectiveness of the management of the reserve as we are using an inclusive and participatory approach (with inputs from academia, local communities, local experts and other organization working on reserve management/plant conservation, government department working on biodiversity conservation etc.) By having ideas and contributions from different stakeholders, it brings together new insights, new findings and new information and it allows us to develop a plan that is based on sound science, good practices but is also pragmatic and easier to implement. This will ultimately benefit the reserve and help safeguard the unique habitat and threatened species found there. The management plan will be the blue print that will help prioritize actions and guide future work in the reserve. The vehicle is an important asset that will allow us, over the years to come, to continue implement actions towards the protection of the reserve by providing access to the reserve to key staff, students, researchers and visitors.

Download the project infofiche.