WCS is leading the implementation of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) approach in Antongil Bay in which local com- munities and social conventions are integral parts. Specifically, in 2003 we facilitated the creation of a local association, the Platform for Collaborative Sustainable Development in Antongil Bay (Plateforme de Concertation pour le Développement Durable de la Baie d'Antongil, PCDDBA) and, in 2008, a commu- nity-driven resource zoning plan for the 32 communes bordering the Bay was adopted.
Since 2009, improved marine resource use systems (such as LMMAs) have been estab- lished in 13 villages around the Bay and local vigilance committees with more than 350 volunteers responsible for enforcing fishing regulations, including illegal beach seines,
have been established. In addition, a 2006 law banning beach seining in the Bay was strengthened in 2011.
Recently, as a result of WCS and PCDDBA efforts and thanks to the dynamism and foresight of regional and na- tional authorities, an important step in the consolidation of the ICZM approach was achieved with the creation of the Analanjirofo Regional Integrated Coastal Zone Manage- ment Committee on July 3, 2012 (regional decree 10-12). This committee brings to- gether decentralized authorities, local asso- ciations and NGOs (including PCDDBA and WCS), and the private sector around the common vision of the promotion of the sus- tainable management of Analanjirofo Re- gion’s coastal and marine areas, from Sainte Marie island to Masoala peninsula.