Here you will find an overview of projects, programmes and other initiatives where our researchers are either organiser or partner.
It is essential to preserve biodiversity not only in nature reserves but also across anthropogenic landscapes. Hereby, the involvement of local communities plays a central role and strongly influences people´s attitudes and behaviour towards nature and conservation. Exclaves of remaining natural ecosystems are today mainly protected areas such as nature reserves, but often also sites of cultural relevance, such as sacred sites. The preservation of sacred sites combines the preservation of people´s culture and biodiversity. Both culture and biodiversity may positively influence the surrounding landscapes. In this activity, we establish a transdisciplinary network of researchers, students and stakeholders, to study and learn about the relevance of cultural forest sites.
Octopus & People In Novel Transdisciplinary Simulations (OctoPINTS)
This project looks into the octopus fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean and sees how agent-based modelling can be combined with empirical participatory research to answer questions about trade-offs, benefit-sharing, short- and long term social-ecological outcomes.
This trans-disciplinary project will study how to strengthen the coastal resilience against coastal erosion by combining terrestrial and marine ecosystem-based protection. It aims to identify and evaluate ecosystem services provided by seagrass meadows for humans and improve biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean.
The project’s objectives include assessing biodiversity, the condition of the ecosystem and its relationship to the stability of resources, its optimized processes for rehabilitating the ecosystem and establishing online repositories of biodiversity. The consortium includes researchers with solid curricula in biodiversity, natural sciences, social sciences, coastal management, training and science networks.
The Project intends to reduce impacts from land-based sources and activities and sustainably manage critical coastal-riverine ecosystems by implementing the WIO-SAP priorities with the support of partnerships at national and regional levels. The project builds on the WIO-LaB Strategic Action Programme for the protection of the WIO Region from land-based sources and activities that were developed under the auspices of the UNEP-GEF WIO-LaB project and which identified key actions that need to be undertaken in the region to reverse the degradation of the coastal and marine ecosystems.
ResilienSEA – Seagrasses in West Africa
A key reason for seagrasses’ lack of protection is the paucity of information regarding some of the most basic aspects of their distribution and health. This project will strengthen knowledge on seagrass meadows in West Africa and conduct pilot actions on selected sites. It will develop new management tools. And it will help governments in protecting seagrasses and the services they provide.
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