The process of establishing the Pakistan’s first MPA has led to a number of valuable lessons being learned, mainly regarding how stakeholders from various sectors (federal and provincial governments, civil society and academia) can collectively work towards pushing through policies for environmental conservation. Pakistan also has a large coastline, and this process can now be replicated for other sites which are rich in biodiversity. Some other potential MPA sites have already been identified, including Churna Island, Miani Hor, and Gwatar Bay.  Through regular meetings of the MFF NCB and other regional gatherings Pakistan continues to share its experience establishing Astola Island MPA and vision to establish additional areas.

To support the process of to establish Astola Island MPA, MFF Pakistan utilized the membership of its National Coordinating Body to undertake the necessary feasibility assessments, conduct consultations, and raise awareness about the importance of the area.  Membership of the NCB includes several government agencies with an interest in marine and coastal resources, the private sector, and civil society organisations.  This unique ‘soft governance’ platform facilitated cross sectoral dialogues and advocacy that enabled the declaration of the MPA more quickly than would have otherwise been possible.

The project fostered collaboration amongst organisations to work together on a topic of current global interest, Chain of Custody and Traceability.

The main organisations working on this project were MDPI, an Indonesian implementation NGO, AP2HI, an industry association bringing together progressive handline and pole and line tuna companies and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Smart-Fish Indonesia.

All organisations have a strong interest in ensuring industry progress towards and understanding of traceability, and require strong industry relationships to ensure successful project outcomes. This collaborative project allowed organisations with different backgrounds, interests, expertise and objectives to coordinate and work towards achieving their interests within this field.

This approach allowed us to ensure close collaboration with industry, to get their permission to audit their supply chains and to work directly with them on improvement. The collaboration ensured additional funds were available to be leveraged to broaden the focus of the project from not only Chain of Custody but also on the more general concept of traceability, relevant to increasing market and regulatory demands.

The MSC Chain of Custody ensures products from MSC certified fisheries are traceable. It can be used as a mock audit to create improvement plans or as a framework to improve traceability.

By analysing supply chain characteristics, we categorized companies and their supply chains into one of six supply chain categories/types. This allowed us to make a generic improvement recommendation for each supply chain type, meeting the needs of 18 companies rather than only the nine companies that were mock-audited under the scope of this project.

The MDPI-AP2HI collaboration facilitated connections with industry and encouraged their involvement in the project. The final report was written in a format that allows it to be shared worldwide to benefit other industries. Though the solutions may not directly translate, most internationally-focused supply chains can benefit from it and be able to find simple solutions to improve the CoC/traceability of their supply chains, in turn facilitating their compliance with certifications but also general compliance with international import and export regulations. The report references Key Data Elements that are becoming internationally recognized as the minimum requirements for internationally-recognised traceability.