OOSC 2025: Rodolphe Devillers involved in two key contributions on small-scale fisheries and marine protected areas

OOSC 2025: Rodolphe Devillers involved in two key contributions on small-scale fisheries and marine protected areas

Durant le One Ocean Science Congress 2025, qui se tiendra à Nice du 3 au 6 juin, 2 travaux importants auxquels Rodolphe Devillers, co-porteur du projet BRIDGES IMPACT a participé seront présentés.

During the One Ocean Science Congress 2025, which will be held in Nice from June 3 to 6, two important studies in which Rodolphe Devillers, co-leader of the BRIDGES IMPACT project, participated will be presented.
These researches address two key issues for the future of the oceans: the role of small-scale fisheries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the assessment of the effectiveness of marine protected area (MPA) management in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region.

Recognizing the contributions of small-scale fisheries to the SDGs

The first study, conducted by Thierry Razanakoto and an international group of researchers, including members of the BRIDGES team such as Rachel Bitoun, Pascal Bach, Marc Léopold, and Brice Trouillet, is entitled “Unfolding the Contributions of Small-Scale Fisheries to the Sustainable Development Goals” (ref. OOS2025-1364). It highlights the fundamental role of small-scale fisheries in achieving many SDGs, well beyond SDG 14 on life below water.

In the face of increasing disruptions linked to climate change, these fisheries appear to be a strategic lever for global food security, particularly in coastal contexts. However, their contributions are often underestimated in global policies. The research team has developed a rapid assessment framework based on expertise, adapted to situations where data is limited. Applied to 60 case studies across eight countries and three continents, this framework reveals that small-scale fisheries consistently contribute to several SDG targets, including 1.4 (equitable access to resources), 12.3 (reduction of food waste), 8.5 (decent employment), and others, depending on local contexts.

The study highlights the need to view these fisheries not only from the perspective of marine resource management, but as complex social-ecological systems at the intersection of social, economic, and environmental issues.

Assessing the effectiveness of MPAs in the western Indian Ocean

Rodolphe also contributed to the work led by Jean Aimé Zafimahatradraibe, “Assessing management effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in the Western Indian Ocean region” (Assessing management effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in the Western Indian Ocean region), which he will present on June 3 at 11 a.m. (ref. OOS2025-527).

This study reviews the ability of MPAs to achieve their conservation objectives. Despite their expansion, many MPAs struggle to demonstrate their effectiveness due to assessment methodologies that are too heterogeneous or poorly adapted to local realities. It offers a comparative analysis of existing tools, with a focus on the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET), which stands out for its integrated consideration of bioecological, socioeconomic, cultural, and governance dimensions. The team applied this tool to a set of MPAs in seven countries in the SWIO region, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of current management practices.

These two research projects are fully aligned with the objectives of the BRIDGES program, which studies the socio-ecosystems of small-scale coastal fisheries in the southwestern Indian Ocean and seeks to understand how to design MPAs in these contexts so that they benefit both people and nature.
Rodolphe Devillers’ involvement in these projects illustrates the role played by BRIDGES program researchers in producing actionable knowledge through interdisciplinary and international collaborations.

Biosketch

Rodolphe Devillers is an IRD senior research scientist,
deputy director of the ESPACE-DEV research unit and is co-leading BRIDGES IMPACT. His research focuses on applying geographical approaches (like a geographic information system and spatial ecology/statistics) to marine sciences and conservation. Rodolphe Devillers has extensive experience of work combining marine protected areas (MPAs), fisheries and sustainability sciences which are the focus subjects for BRIDGES. In the last 20 years he has led over 40 research projects including large-scale international initiatives, with his research focusing on the South-West Indian Ocean region in recent years. His interdisciplinary background has made him used to working at the interface between the natural and social sciences in the marine science field. He has a strong scientific record with around a hundred publications and has (co)
supervised 11 PhD students and 4 post-doctoral fellows.