Once roles and responsibilities are allocated, a work plan can be developed, defining concrete steps needed to achieve the MSP’s objectives. The work plan is typically developed collaboratively with input from all stakeholders to ensure that activities are aligned with the platform’s goals and objectives. Clear activities, timelines, and resources should be outlined in the plan. In this step the crucial aspect of funding is addressed as well. Necessary funds and ways to obtain them are elaborated to ensure the smooth implementation of the activities and the overall operation of the MSP. There are several ways how financial resources can be secured, such as through contributions of MSP members, grants and donations, or funding through the government. 
 

Another crucial step in the formation is the development of a governance framework that builds the core of the MSP. It defines the rules of operation, roles, and responsibilities of participating stakeholders. This also includes the appointment of leadership positions within the MSP steering- and implementation structure. The stakeholders should work together to draft governance documents that outline these aspects, in order to ensure wide acceptance for these documents. The governance framework ensures that the MSP operates efficiently and that decision-making processes are clear and transparent with mechanisms for dispute resolution and conflict management in place. 
 

After the stakeholders have been mapped, they are brought together to find common grounds and build consensus. During engagement meetings, which can be facilitated by a moderator of a neutral third party, the stakeholders cooperatively identify and discuss joint challenges, define shared objectives, and formulate a common vision that should align with national and global agendas. These collective discussions ensure the inclusion of the different perspectives in the strategic and content-related orientation of the MSP. The creation of a shared vision and joint goals help to align efforts, create ownership, and maintain momentum amongst the members. 
 

To ensure comprehensive representation, stakeholder groups and actors that are directly and indirectly connected to fisheries and aquaculture have to be mapped. This can be done through workshops where key stakeholders, in the case of aquaculture, e.g. the responsible ministry and fish farmer associations, jointly identify other relevant stakeholders. Due to different constellation in each country, stakeholder types can vary. In the case of fisheries and aquaculture, general key stakeholder groups and actors that are involved are:

• Public sector: ministries and departments responsible for fisheries and aquaculture and, potentially, other governmental bodies that are connected to the sector, e.g. dealing with forestry, water, or agriculture;
• Private sector: various actors including small scale fishers and fish farmers, large scale operators and companies, as well as actors along the value chain, operating in e.g. feed and gear production, fish processing, transportation, or marketing;
• Agriculture farmers having impact on water quality and use;
• Other user of water bodies related to aquaculture and fisheries;
• Civil society organisations and the media;
• Cooperating partners: international and national development agencies, international organisations (e.g. FAO, World Bank, WorldFish, WWF, etc.), and development banks;
• Academia and research: universities and research institutions;
• Traditional leaders, indigenous communities, and community members; and
• Conservation groups: agencies working in environmental protection and conservation.
   

 Enhance publicity and guidance to elevate public awareness of wildlife protection. The Dalaoling Reserve prioritizes ongoing public engagement, frequently organizing nature education activities centered on wildlife conservation, particularly during significant events such as National Ecology Day. Additionally, the short video footage of forest musk deer captured by infrared cameras has been featured multiple times on CCTV's "The Eye of the Secret Environment," achieving commendable results in science popularization and significantly enhancing public awareness of forest musk deer conservation.
Develop green industries and encourage surrounding villagers to join the protection army. With good mountains and good water as the medium, the green development model of "tea - fruit - bee - wine" is constructed for Qianjinyuan Village, and the rural green industry chain is created. To promote the development of the bird-watching industry around Dalaoling, attracting more than 400 bird watchers from outside to watch birds in the Dalaoling Reserve every year, creating an average economic income of more than 100,000 yuan for local farmers. Assisted in the establishment of the Dalaoling Forest Health Association, promoted the development of the surrounding farm music industry, and increased the average household income of nearly 20,000 yuan in 2024, so that villagers can change the tradition of relying on natural resources as the main economic source, serve the "green bowl" at the door, eat the "ecological meal", and join the wild resources "protection group".

Strengthen cooperation in scientific research and continue to carry out scientific research monitoring. The application of infrared cameras and other modern monitoring technology for research, in-depth understanding of forest musk deer habits and survival methods, in-depth cooperation with the Three Gorges University, the Chinese Academy of Forestry and other scientific research institutions, with the help of professional forces to improve the level of protection, jointly carried out forest musk deer protection research. More than 160 cameras have been continuously deployed in Dalaoling Reserve for more than 7 years, and the population dynamics and habitat distribution of forest musk deer have been obtained in real time, so as to strengthen the protection of forest musk deer activity sites and reduce the corresponding human interference.

   To enhance economic investment in forest fire prevention, the Dalaoling Protected Area has implemented comprehensive infrastructure improvements. Specifically, the protected area is equipped with three management stations, seven business management offices, one forest fire command center, two sets of forest fire monitoring and early warning systems, 32 surveillance cameras, nine patrol vehicles, two fire engines, nine drones, and 60 patrol terminals. These measures have enabled the reserve to achieve 54 consecutive years without major fires, thereby ensuring the safety of the forest musk deer habitat.

Strengthen patrol and improve the management level of forest resources. The forest musk deer habitat is included in the scope of public service forest protection, and strict protection is implemented. The forest chief system is the general starting point of Dalaoling Reserve, the responsibilities of forest chief are strengthened, the co-construction and co-management mechanism is established with 11 villages and 5 townships around it, and a new model of co-construction and co-management of double forest chiefs of protected areas and townships is explored, and 30 forest chiefs are set up at three levels: bureau, station and plot. Every year, we regularly hold forest ministers' coordination meetings on resource protection, forest fire prevention, and special actions to solve the problems of resource protection and people's livelihood development. Employ more than 20 full-time conservators, and regularly carry out various activities such as fire prevention publicity and education vehicle dispatch, household distribution of various publicity materials, hanging fire prevention publicity banners and colored flags, to protect the living environment of forest musk deer and other wild animals.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Following from the six monitoring methods, six databases were also created to collect and analyse the data from these activities. The results have been written up into formal reports in English and Portuguese and shared with the national government. 

Each of the three fieldwork coordinators responsible for the data collection, processing and analysis of the data presented the results to other NGOs, the ministry of environment, Câmara Municipal Boa Vista (CMBV) (town council), Society of Tourism Development in Boa Vista and Maio (STDIBVM), Varandinha Association, Port Maritime Institute (IMP) and National Police including Maritime Police 

We are also hoping to submit the data collected during this project to be published in national scientific journals. 

To complete the surveys, each NGO had a team composed of a coordinator and technicians, the Fundacao Tartaruga’s team was composed of a coordinator and 2 field technicians and 2 drone pilots. Bios.CV and Cabo Verde Natura 2000 had teams composed of a coordinator and 2 technicians. The field teams always consisted of at least 3 members plus volunteers. During this project, they aimed to collect data on biodiversity, pressures, threats, species and climate impacts in the two protected areas, namely: Parque Natural do Norte and Reserva Natural de Tartaruga divided into 6 activities mentioned below:

1. Behavior and abundance of ravens 
2. Collection of fisheries and morphological data of Buzio Cabra
3. Monitoring of introduced and potentially invasive plant species
4. Study of the population of Phoenix Atlantica and Ficus Sycomorus 
5. Recording of human pressures and impacts
6. Collection of atmospheric climate data in communities

Each NGO participated and contributed equally to the field work element of the project. All participants took part in training and field visits to collect data. Each NGO was responsible for entering and processing the data, preparing reports and presenting the results of two of the monitoring methods. The final results were presented to various stakeholders during the IMET evaluation, which took place in November 2024.

A summary of each activity is provided below, and full reports for each activity are available.

A total of 139 trips were made to complete field work during the 5 months. 

• 19 for the recording of human pressures and impacts
• 25 for the study of the population of Phoenix Atlantica and Ficus Sycomorus 
• 28 for the behavior and abundance of ravens
• 19 for the collection of atmospheric climate data in communities
• 38 for the collection of fisheries and morphological data of Buzio Cabra
• 10 for the monitoring of introduced and potentially invasive plant species

All of the materials needed to implement the six defined monitoring methods were purchased. As Cabo Verde is an isolated achepelago, items needed to be brought from overseas. The three NGOs divided this equipment equally so that each organisation has its own set of equipment to be able to implement the six monitoring activities independently. In the planning phase we had defined 15 kits as the indicator value, however in reality, due to there being 6 monitoring activities implemented by 3 different NGOs, the total number of “kits” was 18 – 3 per monitoring activity.