At the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, in 2003, Madagascar’s President Marc Ravalomanana declared that Madagascar would more than triple its coverage of protected areas from 1.7 to 6 million hectares, including five new marine protected areas. This declaration has been named the Durban Vision, and forms the central pillar of the government's development strategy Madagascar Naturellement and the blueprint for its implementation, the Madagascar Action Plan (Commitment 7).

The state's three objectives for the expanded protected area system are to conserve biodiversity, conserve local cultural heritage and maintain ecosystem functioning to contribute to sustainable rural development and poverty reduction. The Velondriake network directly contributes to all three objectives by ensuring the ecological sustainability of this social-ecological marine system. Velondriake is part of a network of coral reef systems which exhibit some of the largest and most diverse coral habitats in the western Indian Ocean, and have been identified by the government of Madagascar as a critical national marine conservation priority within the third phase of the National Environmental Action Plan (PE III) and the Durban Vision planning.

The implementation of a protected areas programme of the scope of the Durban Vision is almost unparalleled worldwide. It has required the drafting of new national legislation and the development of a range of new protected area categories and governance models for the country. National capacity, however, to realize this vision is extremely limited. Marine research and conservation assistance is desperately needed to achieve the President’s goal.