Biography

Ny Aina has about 16-year experience working on natural resource management with a specific focus on environmental policy since the last 10 years, gained through an Engineering Degree on Forestry and a Master of Research on Development and Environment from the University of Antananarivo. Ny Aina has contributed to major ocean governance and fisheries management initiatives in Madagascar. His experiences have been marked by the establishment of the Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) in Madagascar and its national network named MIHARI; the leadership on the creation of the Velondriake and Barren Isles new marine protected areas as part of the government commitment to triple the surface area of MPAs in connection with the Promise of Sydney. He has been playing a key role on fishery management like the development and implementation of the four pilot fisheries management plans for administrative coastal Region and important seascapes, the participation in enhancement of the management of key fishery species (mud crab, octopus), and the facilitation of the preparation of the negotiation of Madagascar’s international fishing agreements in 2022. He has been keeping a pivotal role in the establishment of marine spatial planning (MSP) in Madagascar, from setting up the technical, legal and institutional framework to developing the MSP of a coastal administrative region.

Ny Aina is currently the Marine Policy Specialist of the University of Rhode Island – Coastal Resources Center, working on an innovative project to establish the first MSP at the local level in the Nosy Be Island, funded by the UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge project.