Across the globe, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are going to get the attention they deserve with the 4th MPA Day celebration taking place on Thursday, 1 August 2024. In the countdown to this day dedicated to protecting "nature reserves of the sea, ocean enthusiasts worldwide are sharing how they will be celebrating MPA Day in the biggest series of events yet.
From the first event in 2021, we cannot believe how MPA Day has grown and this is all because of the concern and compassion of our global citizens for the health of our ocean," said Dr Judy Mann, Founder of MPA Day, and the Executive of Strategic Projects at The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation. Protecting the biodiversity of our incredible marine life is impossible if it is done by just a few people. We need everyone coming together across the globe to celebrate, learn, and share our ocean for the sake of all life on Earth, the people of today and for our future generations."
Join in the MPA Day celebrations in 2024There are many planned in-person events and activities, as well as virtual MPA Day tours, webinars, and more to build awareness of these special places around the world.
South African MPA Day Celebrations1. Adventure Mania in Sodwana Bay
- Date: 30 July 2024
- Place: Sodwana Bay Primary School
- Contact: info@adventuremania.co.za
There will be a 1-hour presentation which includes a 10-minute video on Sodwana Bay coral reefs and creatures for Grades 4 to 6 pupils. They will create a poster in teams and present on the oceans diverse wildlife and surroundings.
2.Adventure Mania in Sodwana Bay- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: Morning low tide
- Place: Sodwana Bay beachfront rockpools
- Contact: info@adventuremania.co.za
This is a Grade 6 outing which includes a beach clean-up, scavenger hunt, and snorkel in the rockpools. Adventure Mania ignites a passion for conservation in children, teaching them about the vital role of MPAs.
3. uThukela MPA Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife- Date: 1 August 2024
- Place: Mangrove Forest, Umlalazi Nature Reserve, uThukela
Walking through the mangroves in the Umlalazi Nature Reserve adjacent to the uThukela MPA shows how species in the mangroves have adapted to survive in a dynamic environment of tides and floods. The connection of this mangrove forest in the Umlalazi Estuary is important to the survival of species in the MPA.
4. Addo Elephant MPA South Africa- Date: 3 August 2024
- Time: 8.30am
- Place: Boknes Rocky Shores
This activity will take people on a walk from the "Big Fish to the local Rocky Shores, exploring and learning about the nearby MPA that many people dont know.
5. Ocean Festival / Aliwal Shoal MPA & Hope Spot in South Africa- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 5.30pm to 3.30pm
- Place: Aliwal Shoal MPA - Mzimayi River to Illovo River
- Contact: russel@oceanfestival.co.za
A group will walk the entire length of the Aliwal Shoal MPA, collecting valuable data andconducting research into the condition of the MPA & Hope Spot. Research will be conducted inpartnership with ORI and SAAMBR. The walk is approximately 33km on the KZN South Coast beaches.
6. Two Oceans Aquarium in South Africa- Date: 3 August 2024
- Time: 9.30am to 11.30am
- Place: Dalebrook Tidal Pool | Table Mountain MPA
The Two Oceans Aquarium will be exploring the beautiful, natural shoreline of Dalebrook Tidal Pool. This is an exciting opportunity for everyone to adventure through rockpools and discover the animals and plants that live in the Table Mountain National Park MPA.
7. Plett Shark Spotters in South Africa- Date: 3 August 2024
- Time: 8.30am
- Place: Robberg Nature Reserve
- Contact: Mel@Sharkspotters.org.za
Join on a 5km hike guided by knowledgeable Plettenberg Bay conservationists who will explain the flora and fauna en route.
8. ORCA Foundation, Natures Valley Trust, Plett Shark Spotters (Plett Hope Spot) in South Africa- Place: Plettenberg Bay
- Contact: chantel.elston@gmail.com
This collaboration will perform an educational outreach initiative for the local high schools of Plettenberg Bay for students interested in biology. This will be a presentation about MPAs and how they link to Hope Spot. They will also run a competition for students to submit artwork such as a painting, poem, short essay, or more answering the question "How do MPAs give you hope for the future?. Five winners from each school will be selected, receiving a complimentary whale-watching trip with Ocean Blue Adventures. Winners will be announced on 1 August.
9. Dyer Island Conservation Trust in South Africa- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 3pm to 4.30pm
- Place: Danger Point
- Contact: office@dict.org.za
Dyer Island Conservation Trust, a conservation initiative of Marine Dynamics, collaborating with Cape Nature, Overstrand Municipality, Gansbaai Tourism, Grootbos Foundation, Gansbaai Academia, Masakhane Primary School and Gansbaai Primêr will embark on an exploration session of the diverse marine life, followed by a beach clean-up. This hands-on experience is perfect for anyone passionate about marine conservation and eager to make a positive impact.
10. Amathole MPA - Kleinemonde Beach in South Africa- Date: 4 August 2024
- Time: 8.30am
- Place: Kleinemonde Rocky Shores
This activity will take people on a walk from the "Palms parking lot to the local Rocky Shores and along the way, we will explore and learn about the nearby MPA.
11. South African Webinar- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 7pm to 8pm
- Link: Register in advance for this meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rfuihqj8pHdAF4Vy0QoRVfhCwV_8omlii
Dr Bruce Mann, Dr Kendyl Wright & Kholofelo Ramokone will discuss the topic "Marine Protected Areas: How do we make them work?
Other African MPA Day Celebrations
1. AMEC-Rural/Quirimbas Archipelago in Mozambique- Date: 1 or 2 August 20204
- Time: 9am to 12pm GMT+2
- Place: Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
- Contact: +258 848707430
There will be a presentation and video showcase for students and community members in northern Mozambique, focusing on the MPAs of the Quirimbas Archipelago. Before the video screening will be a comprehensive briefing featuring Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation to educate attendees on the importance and relevance of MPAs.
2. Great Fringing Reef of Egypt Hope Spot (HEPCA)- Date: 18 July to 1 August 2024
- Platform: HEPCAs Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest
- Contact: heba.mobarak@hepca.org
Daily posts highlighting the importance of MPAs, success stories, and engaging content encouraging followers to support marine conservation. Posts include #MPADay and tag the Ministry of Environment and the Red Sea Governorate pages.
3. Great Fringing Reef of Egypt Hope Spot (HEPCA)- Date: 1 to 7 August 2024
- Place: Egypt
- Contact: heba.mobarak@hepca.org
To promote ongoing projects such as Samadai (a dolphin house protected area managed by HEPCA) and the mooring system (the worlds largest). This will include a beach clean-up to celebrate MPA Day, a home collection and safe battery disposal initiative, and a no-plastic campaign to emphasize the environmental impact.
Other Global MPA Day Celebrations 12. Sulubaai Environmental Foundation / Pangatalan in the Philippines- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 9am ASIA time
- Place: Shark Fin Bay, Philippines
Highlighting the MPA rangers and communities who protect their territories. Featuring those who have become certified divers as eco-guides and eco-guardians of the ocean.
13. Laamu Atoll Hope Spot in the Maldives- Date: 2 August 2024
- Time: 8am to 11am (GMT +4)
- Place: Laamu Hithadhoo Mangrove MPA
- Contact: tholaal@maldivesresilientreefs.com | jennyb@bluemarinefoundation.com
This clean-up is a community-led effort to collect plastic, metal and other waste and clear away dead natural debris such as palm leaves and coconuts to make the mangrove MPA a cleaner, healthier place for locals to relax and enjoy.
14. Blue Marine Foundation/Maldives Resilient Reefs and Six Senses Laamu/Deep Blue Divers in the Maldives- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 8.30am to 2pm (GMT+4)
- Place: Fushi Kandu and Gaadhoo Outside dive sites
- Contact: jennyb@bluemarinefoundation.com | lawrence.menz@sixsenses.com
Deep Blue Divers based at Six Senses Laamu resort offers guests the opportunity to dive at two fantastic channel dive sites, located in two separate MPAs. These coral reef sites are known for their high biodiversity and sightings of reef manta rays, sea turtles, sharks and more. The Blue Marine/Maldives Resilient Reefs team will accompany the guests to provide information about these MPAs and their importance.
15. Blue Marine Foundation/Maldives Resilient Reefs, and MUI by Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 2pm to 4pm (GMT+4)
- Place: The Sea Hub of Environmental Learning (SHELL) at Six Senses Laamu and local coral reefs
- Contact: jennyb@bluemarinefoundation.com | lawrence.menz@sixsenses.com
The Junior Marine Biology programme by MUI at Six Senses Laamu is for children from 7 to 12 years old. The young marine biologists of the future have the opportunity to learn about MPAs, why we need them, and what makes them special before they go snorkelling on a local coral reef to collect data on endangered species and impacts to see if this could be a new MPA, followed by a debrief to discuss findings.
16. Blue Marine Foundation/Maldives Resilient Reefs, and MUI by Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 6.15pm (GMT +4)
- Place: ICE at Six Senses Laamu resort.
- Contact: jennyb@bluemarinefoundation.com | lawrence.menz@sixsenses.com
Guests at Six Senses Laamu are invited to join the Blue Marine/Maldives Resilient Reefs team for a presentation on their work with a local island council to establish the first Community Conserved Area (CCA) in the Maldives.
17. Northeast Iceland Hope Spot- Date: 1 or 2 August 2024
- Time: 5.30pm (CET-2)
- Place: Whale Museum of Húsavík and the Ocean Missions Exhibition Room
- Contact: taime.oceanmissions@gmail.com | oceanmissions@gmail.com
There will be a free screening of a documentary followed by a public discussion on how to convert the Hope Spot into an MPA that benefits the environment and local community. There will be a Trash to Treasure workshop in the Ocean Missions Exhibition Room transforming trash collected from beach clean-ups into artistic objects.
18. Protect Baltic (Helcom) in Finland- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 10am to 12pm EEST
- Register: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/316f6e61-9e40-468c-b2cc-70532cd70fd8@3820702a-e319-4f37-a945-a25afac01c10
- Contact: protect-baltic@helcom.fi
Join a special MPA Day webinar to present the MPA Guide, an essential resource anyone can use to enhance marine protection efforts worldwide. This event is designed for marine conservationists, policymakers, researchers, and anyone passionate about ocean conservation.
- Dr Judy Mann-Lang presenting on MPA Day and its origins
- Jannica Haldin presenting on bringing MPA Day to the Baltic region
- Dr Kirsten Grorud-Colvert presenting on how the MPA Guide can be used to improve marine protected areas.
- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 2pm to 3pm
- Link: Click here to register https://mpaday.mediaserver.co.za/
Visit MPAs from the couch! This is a virtual tour of MPAs around the coast of South Africa with views of Gotland Hope Spot in Sweden, organised by ShareScreen Africa and FLOW. From the rocky shores of the Table Mountain National Park MPA to the sandy beaches of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, the mangroves adjacent to the uThukela MPA, the unique Walker Bay MPA, and the cold waters of the Baltic Sea, discover MPAs, the plants and animals that live there, and the people who care for them.
20. Sea Change Project Webinar- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 3pm to 4.30pm
- Link: https://zoom.us/j/97017280285?pwd=ERy2y3ZxyuWWB89Ok7AQ5UqKTpnIQF.1
- Contact: Dani@seachangeproject.com
In this webinar moderated by Sea Change Project conservation journalist Swati Thiyagarajan, explores how to balance community rights and needs with the need to conserve ocean spaces; and how education, policy and scientific research intersect to benefit the environment and people.
21. Misool Marine Reserve in Indonesia- Date: 1 to 2 August 2024
- Time: 8am (WITA, +9GMT)
- Place: Kampung Yellu, Indonesia
Ocean cleanup and coral reef restoration activities will be carried out in Yellu village together with the youth, residents and officials. The Misool Marine Reserve was established in 2005 on the site of a former shark finning camp. In less than two decades, sharks have returned in abundance and fish biomass and diversity have soared.
22. Coral Triangle Center/Nusa Penida Marine in Indonesia- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 9am to 12pm
- Place: Nusa Penida MPA Hope Spot in Bali
- Contact: lgallardo@coraltrianglecenter.org
The launch of CTCs new Adopt-a-Mangrove programme where 50 schoolchildren will participate in a fun learning activity around MPAs, and plant their "adopted mangrove seedlings in a dedicated restoration site. There are 230 hectares of mangrove forests in Nusa Lembongan, with 13 different species of mangroves. Indonesia has the largest area of mangrove forests in the world but in the last 30 years, these have been threatened by agriculture and aquaculture.
23. St Helena Hope Spot- Date: 28 July 2024
- Time: 9am
- Place: The St Helena Dive Club, Harbour
Join a hands-on clean-up event at the wharf to help clean the harbour. Choose from an underwater (SCUBA or freediving) or land-based clean-up which are running concurrently to preserve the marine environment. After the clean-up, enjoy some delicious food at the Yacht Club as a token of appreciation.
24. St Helena Hope Spot- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: Evening
- Place: Mule Yard
The event - hosted by the St Helena National Trust, St Helena Government, Marine & Fisheries
Conservation Section - will kick off with a brief talk discussing the clean-up results and the importance of the MPA. Following this, there will be a screening of selected ocean-themed films that showcase the beauty of marine life and emphasise the need for its conservation. Bring family and friends!
25. Blue Center Gotland and Gotland Hope Spot- Date: 1 August 2024
- Time: 12pm (GMT +2)
- Place: Gotland Blue Center
- Contact: gunilla.rosenqvist@uu.se |kirsten.akerman@ub.uu.se
Open day at the Gotland Blue Center for the residents of Gotland and tourists visiting the island.
Join in on all the MPA Day 2024 action by visiting Get Involved (mpaday.org) for updated events and activities. Join in the discussions around MPAs on Instagram @marineprotectedareassa, Twitter @MPAsSA1 or Facebook Marine Protected Areas SA @MPASouthAfrica.
The partners involved in MPA Day are Two Oceans Aquarium, Flow Communications, Olivia Jones Communications, WildOceans (a programme of WildTrust), WWF South Africa, CapeNature, Adventure Mania, Mission Blue, HELCOM, Ezemvelo-KZN Wildlife, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Save Our Seas Shark Centre, Plett Shark Spotters, Dyer Island Conservation Trust, Youth4MPAs, The Ocean Advocate, Justice4Jaws, Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation and others.