Welcome, Nairobi Convention Member States, partners, and friends, to this installment of the Weekly News Round-up! Please keep reading to find out what’s new in efforts to protect, conserve and develop the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region.
We look forward to continuing our work with you to create a prosperous WIO region with healthy rivers, coasts, and oceans.
News:
Communities in Madagascar launch the world’s largest mangrove carbon conservation project
A celebration at the heart of a protected mangrove forest in Madagascar this week marked the formal inauguration of the world’s largest mangrove carbon conservation project. The forest, situated in the Bay of Assassins in the remote southwest of the country, is protected and managed by communities from surrounding villages within the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA).
This project is supported by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Blue Forests Project: ………read more
Social-ecological alignment and ecological conditions in coral reefs
Complex social-ecological interactions underpin many environmental problems. To help capture this complexity, this research advances an interdisciplinary network modeling framework to identify important relationships between people and nature that can influence environmental conditions. This paper draws on comprehensive social and ecological data from five coral reef fishing communities in Kenya. The results suggest that when fishers facing common dilemmas form cooperative communication ties with direct resource competitors, they may achieve positive gains in reef fish biomass and functional richness…….read more
New Release: The Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science (WIOJMS)
The latest issue of the WIO Journal of Marine Science (WIOJMS) has been published and has the following articles:
- Shelf life assessment of hot smoked African catfish stored under different storage conditions from Lake Kenyatta, north coast, Kenya
- Post-bleaching mortality of a remote coral reef community in Seychelles, Western Indian Ocean
- Improving bycatch mitigation measures for marine megafauna in Zanzibar, Tanzania
- Hook size selectivity in the artisanal handline fishery of Shimoni fishing area, south coast, Kenya
- Effects of urea and lipid removal from Carcharhinus leucas and Galeocerdo cuvier white muscle on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios
- Ecological classification of estuaries along the Tanzanian mainland: a tool for conservation and management
- The status of Mtwapa Creek mangroves as perceived by the local communities
- A review of nudibranch (Mollusca: Euthyneura) diversity from the Republic of Mauritius: status and future work
- A first account of the elasmobranch fishery of Balochistan, south-west Pakistan
- The cavernicolous swimming crab Atoportunus dolichopus Takeda, 2003 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) reported for the first time in the Western Indian Ocean during technical dives in the mesophotic zone
View or download the full issue here
Call for articles for the WIOMSA magazine: Stories from women in marine science
WIOMSA plans to release an issue of the magazine focused on the theme: Breaking the class ceiling: stories from women who are making a difference in coastal and marine resource management; and invites submission of articles for the magazine issue. The stories could be a personal piece on career progression or stories on making a difference through innovation, community work, policy change, solution-oriented leadership and teamwork, case studies of leadership in solving challenges in the field of coastal and marine resource management etc. Submitted articles must be interesting, of inspirational value and raise awareness of what the writer has or aim achieve. Learn more
Tools for Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: New Navigator Now Available
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) can help governments, civil society and communities manage climate change impacts. EbA is a nature-based approach that uses biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Although there are hundreds of tools and methodologies available to support the integration of EbA into adaptation strategies, information about these tools and how to use them is not always easily accessible to those who need it……….read more
Vacancies
Communication Assistant position – Deadline is TODAY
Please find advert link for the Communication Assistant position: Apply here
Kindly note the deadline is 4th October 2019.
Africa Oceans Strategy Director
Please find advert link: Apply here
Kindly note the deadline is 31 October 2019.
Upcoming Events:
The Nairobi Convention, in executing the WIOSAP project, is organizing a workshop for managers and policy-makers on Mainstreaming of Environmental Flows into Integrated Water Resources Management to be held on 6 – 8 November 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Nairobi Convention, in collaboration with the IUCN-chaired Ocean Acidification International Reference User Group (OAiRUG) and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) are organizing the Indian Ocean Regional Ocean Acidification Workshop in Zanzibar, Tanzania on 28- 29 October 2019. Learn more here.
Do you have an event or story you’d like included in the weekly round-up? Write [email protected] to be featured next week!
