March 30, 2019

Tasks

Task 1

Marine biodiversity, food resources and ecosystem rehabilitation

The central goal of this Task is to evaluate biodiversity in coastal peri-urban ecosystems from
Mozambique and Príncipe Island, that most contribute for providing food security and other
services to human communities, namely mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal flats,
which are used extensively for artisanal subsistence food resources, and provide other services
such as pollution mitigation and coastal protection.

The specific objectives are to:

1) quantify biodiversity and ecosystem degradation;
2) evaluate food resources and human dependence on the target systems;
3) perform experiments on degraded ecosystem and associated resources’ rehabilitation.

 

Task 2

Marine biodiversity collections and databases as tools to capacity-building and society outreach

The main goal of this task is to use marine natural history collections (MNHC) and existing
records on marine biodiversity from Mozambique and Príncipe Island to advance scientific
knowledge, improve the access to MNHC and promote public engagement with science.

The specific objectives are to:

1) improve MNHC hold by the NHM in Maputo and Príncipe Biosphere Reserve, as well as those
obtained by the present project, preserving specimens and associated data;
2) increase information availability on African specimens hold by Portuguese and partner African
institutions through in situ and online data compilation;
3) advance accessibility to MMHC information through an online digital repository specifically
created for this project;
4) develop capacity-building of Mozambique and Príncipe Island researchers, curators, students
and technicians involved in curational activities through scientific, technical and data
management training;
5) promote outreach and science communication on the importance of African coastal marine
ecosystems and associated living resources, and the role of NHC, through an exhibition.

 

Task 3

Public awareness and community engagement

The main goal of this task is to centralize and promote the activities targeting public awareness,
at various levels in the society, and also promote the coastal community engagement in the
project activities and strategic results.

The specific objectives are to:

1) disseminate project activities and results in the community at various levels – the scientific,
stakeholders and wider audiences, through the production of dissemination materials and
promotion of events, such as conferences and exhibits, with clear linkages to Tasks 1 and 2,
2) engage coastal communities that depend on peri-urban marine resources as source of food
security in the activities of the project, namely the patterns and intensity of living resources usage
through questionnaires;
3) to promote the engagement of the community in the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems.

 

Task 4

Networking and capacity building

The main goal of this task is the strengthening of linkages between the involved countries and at
a wider regional context, in view of promoting networking and sharing knowledge. On the other
hand, the different capacities within the project will be used to provide a consistent plan of
capacity building actions, targeting the technical formation in marine biodiversity and repositories
methodologies and standard monitoring assessments.

The specific objectives are:

1) assess and establish linkages to ongoing activities at national and regional levels that target
coastal biodiversity and food security;
2) assess the legal and governance frameworks in the target countries in view of wider regional
context;
3) promote the regionalisation of the capacity building actions performed through the project, creating links to other funding schemes and means for regional collaboration.