06/06/16

At the ‘Blue Solutions’ Regional Forum on Solutions for Oceans, Coasts and Human Wellbeing in Africa, MWAMBAO was selected to present one of 28 ‘solutions’ selected from throughout Africa. Our ‘solution’ documented the work we have been conducting in the south of Pemba for the past two years, entitled Octopus Management as an Entry Point for Collaborative Fisheries Management in Kisiwa Panza, Pemba, Tanzania. 

As well as having our ‘solution’ soon to be published in an anthology of ‘solutions’, we also produced a short film documenting our use of participatory video that was shown at the Blue Solutions Corner at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

The forum – held on Zanzibar from the 31st of May to the 3rd of June – hosted cross-sectoral participants from throughout the African continent, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America, providing a platform for the discussion of innovative ‘solutions’ for improving the sustainability of coastal ecosystems and communities.

Some of the other 28 ‘solutions’ included: private MPA management in Zanzibar, the recycling of flip-flops collected on beaches to produce handicrafts in Kenya, the use of mobile technology for catch management in South Africa, community mangrove restoration in Ghana, and an alert network in West Africa to protect critically endangered Sawfish species, to name just a few.