1. Importance of Inclusive Value Chain Mapping: The project highlighted the value of comprehensive and inclusive mapping of value chain actors, ensuring that all stakeholders are considered and represented in decision-making processes.
2. Viability of Diversified Livelihood Options: The experience with pilot demonstrations showed that diversifying livelihood options, such as exploring eco-tourism, Tengefu management, and coral gardening, can provide viable alternatives for improving the livelihoods of K-BMU members.
3. Capacity Building through Peer-to-Peer Training: The peer-to-peer training approach demonstrated its effectiveness in building capacities and sharing knowledge among K-BMU members, facilitating the adoption of best practices and new livelihood opportunities.
4. Need for Continuous Support and Monitoring: The project underscored the importance of ongoing support and monitoring to ensure the sustainability and scaling up of livelihood improvement initiatives, such as the pilot demonstrations established during the project.
5. Partnerships and Collaborative Approaches: The project's success was largely due to the collaborative efforts among OA, KDoF, K-BMU Executive, and other stakeholders, emphasizing the value of partnerships in achieving sustainable livelihood outcomes.

1. Importance of Customised Solutions: The development of a customised MSP, tailored to the specific needs and user groups within the KCMA, highlighted the value of adaptive management approaches in conservation.
2. Community Engagement and Awareness: The project demonstrated that creating mass awareness and training members in sustainable resource use are essential components of successful conservation initiatives.
3. Partnerships and Agreements: The experience with the MoU between K-BMU, KCW-CBO, and KDoF showed that formal agreements can facilitate cooperation, joint operations, and benefit-sharing, leading to more effective conservation outcomes.
4. Legal Recognition and Security of Tenure: The process of gazettement for the KCMA and associated areas underscored the importance of legal recognition and secure tenure for the long-term protection and management of marine conservation areas.
5. Capacity Building for Enforcement: The project's focus on building capacity and equipping enforcement teams emphasized the critical role of effective enforcement in the success of conservation initiatives.

1. Importance of Legal Recognition: The process highlighted the importance of legal recognition and registration of all actors involved in the fishery to ensure security of tenure and empowerment of artisanal fishers.
2. Community Participation: The success of the project underscored the need for widespread community participation and awareness in governance and management decisions affecting their livelihoods.
3. Capacity Building: Continuous capacity building of local leadership and communities is essential for sustainable management and governance of fisheries resources.
4. Partnerships and Collaborations: Effective partnerships between government agencies, NGOs, and local communities can significantly enhance the governance and sustainability of natural resources.
5. Policy and Legal Frameworks: The existence of supportive policy and legal frameworks is critical for the successful implementation of governance and management plans for fisheries resources.

To ensure success of these actions, long-term monitoring programas must be setup, with adequate resources.   It's also necessary to deepen the knowledge of nesting practices and the impacts of climate change related fluctuations in water and salinity levels.

1. Policy Influence Requires Persistence: Revising laws and policies to reflect grassroots realities, such as integrating "sex for fish" dynamics into the Fisheries Act, is a gradual but essential process.
2. Integration Enhances Impact: Addressing GBV and environmental issues in isolation is less effective than integrating these efforts into other sectors, such as health and education, to reflect the interconnectedness of societal challenges.
3. Collaboration Fosters Sustainability: Strong partnerships between gender and fisheries sectors help stakeholders appreciate mutual dependencies, resulting in better coordination and ownership of interventions.
4. Respecting Local Dynamics Is Critical: Communities dependent on resources may resist government interventions due to historical or systemic inequalities. A participatory approach rooted in respect and understanding is essential.
5. Adaptability in Complex Contexts: Addressing intersectional challenges which are deeply embeded in neoliberal systems and structures such as intersectional inequality, rural marginalization and cross-border security issues, requires flexibility and innovative resource use to sustain project momentum.

Lessons Learned

1. Sensitivity Is Critical: Miscommunication or misrepresentation, such as media captions, can harm awareness efforts; careful messaging is essential.
2. Continuous Engagement: Awareness raising is an ongoing process that requires sustained efforts and integration into existing platforms.
3. Community Dynamics Matter: Resource-dependent communities can resist government-led resource management; respect and understanding of their perspectives are crucial.
4. Challenging Stereotypes: Awareness efforts must emphasize that "sex for fish" is rooted in power imbalances rather than reducing women to instigators or sex workers.
5. Resource Management Challenges: Disputes over ownership and responsibility for natural resources highlight the need for clear roles and strengthened governance.

1. Collaboration Is Essential: Addressing GBV effectively requires working with both men and women, as men are often key decision-makers and actors in the fisheries sector.
2. Cultural Sensitivity Matters: Engaging traditional leaders takes time and patience but is critical for securing their support and using their influence to enact change.
3. Systematic Inclusion Yields Results: Including men in GBV Watch Committees and training sessions has fostered shared responsibility and reduced resistance to interventions.
4. Sustained Engagement Is Needed: Changing perceptions and behaviors among men requires continuous awareness and reinforcement to ensure long-term impact.
5. Sector Integration Is Key: Fisheries officers, while primarily tasked with technical duties, can play a significant role in addressing GBV once sensitized and empowered.

1. Time and Resources Are Critical -Addressing GBV requires long-term commitment and investment in training stakeholders to fully understand and respond to the issue.
2. Integrated Approaches Are Key - Environmental goals cannot be achieved in isolation; addressing interconnected issues like GBV is essential.
3. Adapting the Legal System Is Challenging - Social issues like GBV do not easily fit into rigid legal frameworks, and alternatives to punitive measures should be explored to balance justice with social needs.
4. Systemic Change Is Needed - Decolonizing legal systems and tailoring them to local contexts is vital for improving accessibility and comprehension for communities.
5. Nuanced Case Management - Both sectors (judicial and environmental) must clearly define and differentiate between GBV and business disputes to ensure proper case handling.

1. Local mechanisms to bridge structural gaps are essential where formal GBV structures are lacking.
2. Leveraging local and traditional knowledge and adapting to their ways ensures community resilience and sustainable outcomes.
3. Addressing cross-sectoral approaches such as GBV and environmental/climate issues together achieves a broader impact.
4. Collaboration matters when resource-owning communities and partners work together and the results delivered are more impactful.
5. Financing partners do not need to impose what they wish from the resource-owning communities, results may only last as much as the intervention lasts.

Several lessons emerged from these partnership activities. First, understanding the subject matter and having access to skilled staff was essential. Regular updates and information sharing with members and partners helped maintain momentum and encouraging a unified approach. The ability to build a common voice and common force within the network was key to ensuring success. It was important to avoid fragmented efforts and instead focus on joint, complementary planning that aligned everyone toward a shared goal.