National and regional stakeholder engagement is critical to the successful uptake and implementation of the regional strategy to improve aquatic biosecurity in PICTs. Setting an engagement plan will allow for:

• Information, consultation and empowerment of government and non-government stakeholders.
• Greater awareness of stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.
• Unnecessary duplication of effort across jurisdictions.
• Greater participation of stakeholders.
• Behavioural change across the entire decision-making spectrum from civil society and communities to government agencies.

Engagement of key stakeholders will be enhanced through various approaches:

• Information, e.g., articles in newsletters, journals and newspapers, website, social media, open discussion groups.
• Consultation, e.g., surveys and meetings/workshops with focus groups (e.g., policy makers, animal health practitioners, WAHIS operators, etc);
• Collaboration, e.g., workshops for the participatory development of new policies and procedures on implementation, monitoring and evaluation of aquatic biosecurity strategies.
• Empowerment, e.g., delegate implementation, monitoring and evaluation to country authorities and private sector.