It’s been a while since you’ve last read a post on our blog- rest assured that we have been putting ideas together while finalizing various contracts and project documents. Now, we can spare few minutes to provide a brief of our adventures!
GIF have now finalized and signed contracts for two projects- the large project under the MFF initiative entitled “Coastal development and ecosystem Modelling as a tool to enable improved local and national policy decision-making processes” is a joint submission by both GIF and Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS) and a small grant as part of the GEF SGP programme for a project entitled “Increasing public awareness and educating the local communities in understanding the behavioural ecology of sharks in order to reduce conflicts between fishermen and dive operators in Seychelles.”(See photos in side bar)
MFF Large project: This project was ranked the highest among all regional submissions and is the only one for the Seychelles. Dr. David Rowat from MCSS signed the contract on behalf of both organizations. This is a 24month project, involving various partners (government and private) and will develop a baseline, parameters and technical tools to provide a platform for enhanced coastal zone management. Four sites (Denis and North Islands, Beau Vallon and Intendance) representative of the diversity of coastal development scenarios in Seychelles have been selected for the implementation of pilot projects. Each site will be surveyed and assessed for the environmental services they provide and the biodiversity assemblages and economic activities they support. These baselines will be used to develop environmental parameters and technical tools to inform planning and development decision-making processes in particular the scoping, undertaking and assessment of EIAs. The projects will also be used to develop public information packs on coastal development and management to promote and empower the involvement of local communities in the decision-making process. The project’s objective is to strengthen the technical and scientific basis of, and empower local community involvement in, coastal management decision making-processes.
SGP: Working with local communities forms an integral part of GIF’s list of activities and these communities are of various age groups and field of expertise. GIF’s project will assist in the successful implementation of some of the work programmes of the national plan of action for the conservation and management of sharks (Shark NPOA).
This proposal which will be targeting the conservation of biodiversity will tie in well with GIF’s main goal of mainstreaming sustainable development. Shark meat is a major food and income sources for various local and global communities. On the local scale, sharks as an apex predator have crucial roles in the food web as well as on the ecosystem. It is also an excellent protein source for locals since the first human settlement. However, sharks have been fished for decades and with increased long-line fisheries and improved technology, have led to its declining population. There is the crucial need to sustainably manage the existing stock and educate the local communities with high reliance on this resource, not only for conservation purposes but also to ensure that the sharks’ ecological roles are maintained. Nevertheless, there are a lot of unknowns about the sharks, especially in terms of the population structure and phylogeny. There is also increased conflicts between the fishers and the diving industry due to the high shark fishing activity occurring on sites with large numbers of sharks This proposal aims to increase the local ecological knowledge of the local communities from all walks of life (researchers, fishermen, and other biodiversity users) on the importance of understanding the biological aspects of key species that are crucial to their livelihoods, on the socio-economic and ecological levels. Once this has been identified, with increased public awareness, local communities can better manage this resource which is vital to their livelihood and at the same time, further enhance biodiversity conservation for future generations.
Posts
