A new initiative under the Hifadhi Blu Programme shows how inclusive leadership, fair access, and community-driven solutions can deliver lasting results for people and ecosystems.
The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is one of the planet’s most diverse and productive marine regions. These waters sustain extraordinary biodiversity and provide food, livelihoods, and shelter for more than 70 million people.
Yet these ecosystems face mounting threats from overfishing, climate change, pollution, and habitat loss.
In 2024, Minderoo Foundation joined forces with WIOMSA and Advanced Conservation Strategies to launch the Hifadhi Blu Programme – a regional initiative supporting community-led conservation.
By co-designing interventions with local partners and equipping them with the tools and resources they need, the programme strengthens conservation outcomes and helps secure a sustainable future for our oceans.
Now, in 2025, we’re proud to announce a major new initiative under the Hifadhi Blu banner: the Gender Action Plan (2025-2029).
The Gender Action Plan (2025–2029), a first-of-its-kind resource for embedding gender equity into ocean conservation across the Western Indian Ocean – and a practical model for inclusive marine governance worldwide.
The Gender Action Plan (2025–2029)
The Gender Action Plan embeds gender-responsive, inclusive, and community-rooted practices that contribute to more just and sustainable ocean governance.
Download the Gender Action Plan and use it to guide your organisation’s policies, planning and funding decisions.
You might be wondering: what do gender and ocean conservation have to do with each other?
Our answer: everything – because when gender equity is built into ocean conservation, outcomes improve for both people and ecosystems.
At Minderoo, our mission is to forge a fair future. Protecting natural ecosystems, striving for gender equality, and uplifting communities are interconnected goals – and lasting solutions demand that we address challenges through multiple lenses.
The Gender Action Plan (GAP) exemplifies this interconnected approach.
Developed by Dr. Buhle Francis, a gender expert in the Western Indian Ocean region, and backed by Minderoo Foundation in collaboration with our partners, the GAP provides a practical framework for integrating gender equity into ocean conservation across the region – strengthening communities and conservation efforts as we do so.
This framework is more than a local strategy.
It is a new resource for ocean conservation with the potential to be applied globally, helping to build more inclusive and sustainable marine governance across all waters.
By commissioning and backing the Gender Action Plan with our partners, we’re embedding human rights and inclusion into marine governance across the WIO – delivering on our broader vision of championing equity throughout all our work.
Women are often the primary caregivers and resource managers in coastal communities, holding vital knowledge and skills for sustainable marine practices.
Yet across the Western Indian Ocean, systemic barriers continue to limit their contributions.
The 2024 Gender Analysis Report found that although women make up 34 per cent of the Ocean Conservation Area workforce, they hold less than 5 per cent of leadership roles.
Many women face significant barriers, including restrictions on mobility (such as travelling for training or patrols), religious dress codes that are incompatible with diving gear, and the militarised nature of ranger training.
These factors, combined with unequal access to resources and decision-making, undermine the effectiveness of marine conservation efforts.
Research shows that incorporating gender perspectives into environmental policies leads to more equitable and sustainable outcomes.
Diverse voices produce better-informed decisions and stronger conservation results.
Yet, despite growing recognition of the importance of inclusive ocean governance, women and marginalised groups remain significantly underrepresented in the planning, management and monitoring of ocean conservation areas across the WIO region.
The Gender Action Plan responds directly to these challenges. It embeds a human rights-based approach, calling for inclusive and equitable participation in ocean governance.
By promoting women’s leadership, shifting socio-cultural norms, validating traditional ecological knowledge, and introducing gender-responsive financing and monitoring systems, the GAP turns high-level commitments into practical action.
In doing so, it reframes gender equity not as a “nice-to-have” but as a necessary condition for effective, inclusive and sustainable marine conservation, improving outcomes for ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
There are significant gender-based barriers to inclusive participation in ocean conservation areas in the WIO region.
The Gender Action Plan draws on the WIO Gender Analysis Report (2024), which identified the following key barriers to inclusive participation:
Cultural and religious norms
- Restrictions on women’s mobility (e.g., travel for training or patrols)
- Dress codes incompatible with diving gear or marine uniforms
- Gendered expectations that discourage women from marine roles
Access to resources and training
- Limited access to financial capital and credit
- Inadequate access to fishing gear, boats, or marine technology
- Limited training opportunities, especially in deep-sea diving, navigation and enforcement
Overlooked traditional knowledge
- Women’s ecological knowledge sidelined in marine planning
- Preference for Western-centric conservation models that exclude local and indigenous practices
Lack of gender policies in ocean conservation areas (OCAs)
- Absence of sector-specific gender-responsive policies
- Most national and international frameworks do not address the unique gender challenges in OCAs
Exclusion from governance structures
- Underrepresentation of women in marine decision-making bodies
- Limited voice in OCA design, implementation and monitoring
Institutional bias and intersectional challenges
- Gender-blind policies and programming
- Disproportionate barriers for rural, indigenous or disabled women
Sexual harassment and gender-biased work environments
- Unsafe environments during patrols, trainings or fieldwork
- Lack of gender-sensitive grievance mechanisms
The Gender Action Plan provides a practical roadmap for embedding gender equity into marine conservation across the WIO.
The GAP inludes eight focus areas for advancing gender equity in ocean conservation and offers a model that can be adapted to other regions seeking to make ocean governance more inclusive and effective.
By addressing the barriers that currently restrict women’s participation, these focus areas open pathways for women and marginalised groups to fully contribute their knowledge and leadership – elevating the impact and sustainability of overall conservation efforts.
The eight focus areas outline how to turn high-level commitments into tangible action:
1. Addressing gender-blind institutions
Helps organisations remove blind spots and embed equity into everyday operations.
- Support grantees to conduct gender self-assessments and audits.
- Deliver gender equity training workshops for OCA staff.
- Designate internal Gender Champions or Focal Points.
2. Promoting gender-responsive practices
Bridges the gap between policy and practice so equity principles become routine.
- Facilitate stakeholder dialogues on gender issues in marine management.
- Develop and share best-practice guidelines for gender integration.
- Document and disseminate promising practices to influence policy.
3. Building capacity for gender advocacy
Equips communities and leaders with the tools to drive change from within.
- Develop community-based training on gender rights and advocacy.
- Facilitate peer learning, mentorship and advocacy forums.
- Create user-friendly toolkits communities can adapt and reuse.
4. Improving women’s representation and leadership
Creates clear pathways for women to step into decision-making roles.
- Establish mentorship networks and specialised leadership training.
- Provide seed grants for women-led projects.
- Showcase women’s leadership through storytelling and visibility campaigns.
5. Addressing socio-cultural barriers
Shifts norms and builds allyship so participation becomes truly inclusive.
- Implement context-sensitive behaviour-change campaigns.
- Organise gender dialogues with communities and train local leaders as equity champions.
- Build allyship with male champions and traditional leader
6. Integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)
Elevates local and Indigenous knowledge to strengthen conservation outcomes.
- Organise collaborative learning exchanges between TEK holders and scientists.
- Support documentation of women’s traditional marine knowledge.
- Pilot projects that integrate TEK into conservation strategies.
7. Promoting gender-responsive funding mechanisms
Ensures funding systems reward equity as well as impact.
- Develop gender-responsive budgeting guidance for grantees.
- Provide training on preparing inclusive project proposals.
- Identify and support small grants for women-led or gender-focused initiatives.
8. Monitoring and evaluation for gender integration
Builds accountability and learning into every stage of conservation work.
- Co-develop gender indicators with grantees to track equity outcomes.
- Conduct gender integration assessments and training on gender monitoring and evaluation.
- Build feedback loops to adapt programming across all focus areas.
By combining these focus areas with measurable indicators, the GAP moves beyond policy statements to a hands-on resource that strengthens marine governance in the Western Indian Ocean – and offers a transferable blueprint for inclusive, gender-responsive ocean conservation worldwide.
The Gender Action Plan marks a decisive step toward more inclusive, equitable and effective ocean conservation in the WIO and beyond.
It gives practitioners, policymakers, funders and communities a clear roadmap for embedding gender equity into everyday conservation work.
By reducing barriers and opening space for diverse voices, the plan enables women and marginalised groups to fully contribute their knowledge and leadership — strengthening local governance and making marine ecosystems more resilient.
With the GAP, we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the stewardship of our oceans is inclusive, just and sustainable – now and for generations to come.
Want to learn more? Check out the full Gender Action Plan here.
Are you part of an NGO or a government? Do you or your organisation write policy or fund conservation efforts?
Consider embedding the GAP in your frameworks to help build more inclusive, effective and sustainable ocean conservation – in the Western Indian Ocean and beyond.
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