Page 14 - Mauritius REPORT

Expansion of mariculture

There are opportunities for further expansion for mariculture farming for example in Rodrigues the
extensive lagoon would be used for seaweed and sea cucumber farming. The government has also
been highly proactive in the mariculture and small scale fishery sectors, particularly evident in the
small-scale fishery where duty concessions and the provision of soft-terms loans have been utilized to
support the sector.

Country Profile
Conserve coastal and marine areas
The situation
Mauritius supports a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna and its strategic location in the Indian Ocean
The Republic of Mauritius
confers upon it rich mangrove and wetland coastal zones, fringing coral reefs and lagoon corals. The
rich marine biodiversity supports about 159 species of scleractinian corals and 340 species of fish.
About 160 genera of alga and 17 mammals have been identified in the Mauritian marine waters.
With the total Mauritian coral reef being estimated at 870 km , about 40 per cent of the coral cover
2
is located in the lagoon (World Bank, 2017) (ROM, 2016). Its threatened flora is made up of about

691 species, consisting 150 Mascarene endemics and 272 single island endemics. Its fauna consists
of native bats, nine endemic bird species, butterflies and snails (ROM, 2016).

Target 14.5: Conserve coastal and marine areas

UN definition: By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with
national and international law and based on the best available scientific information.
Status:
Average proportion of Marine Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) covered by protected areas was 10
per cent in 2000 increasing to 11.75 per cent in 2018.
Protected marine area (Exclusive Economic Zones) in 2018 was 49.6 km 2

In addition to the marine biodiversity, Mauritius also has a freshwater biodiversity, which boasts
natural lakes, rivers and marshy areas. The total internal freshwater resource per capita sits at 2,182
per cubic metres with a withdrawal of 26.4 per cent of the internal freshwater resource. About 68
per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal supports the Mauritian agricultural sector. The abundant
freshwater resource translates into 100 per cent access to improved water source among the rural
and urban population (World Bank, 2017).

The challenge
Land use/land cover change
th
The 17 century witnessed the uncontrolled extraction of timber and massive conversion of land into
agricultural land necessary for sugarcane development (GEF, 1995). The unchecked exploitation
of high quality hardwood forests and rapid expansion of the sugarcane industry culminated into a
decline in the freshwater and wetland extent, and native forest cover (MAIFS, 2017b).

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