Africa-Press – Cape verde. Facilitate the recovery of marine ecosystems, strengthen resilience to climate change. Objectives of PaMAR – Strengthening Marine Conservation in Cabo Verde, led by Fauna & Flora, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Cambridge, England.
Funded with around 5 million euros, the project will run until October 2028 and also aims to improve the management of existing marine areas, as well as address the possible extension of protections to a further 314 square kilometers.
Practical implementation is being carried out by six local partners: Terrimar, in Santo Antão; Biosfera, in São Vicente; Projeto Biodiversidade, in Sal; Fundação Maio Biodiversidade; Projeto Vitó, in Fogo; and Biflores, in Brava.
Alícia Costa, PaMAR grant manager, has no doubts about the importance of the ongoing initiative.
“It is a very important project for Cabo Verde, which has a very large marine area. The project aims to strengthen the protection of marine areas through collaboration with the Government of Cape Verde and six local partners, who are operating on six different islands. Fauna & Flora is leading the project, bringing a lot of knowledge from other countries that are in similar situations. Through this collaboration, the project hopes to achieve a real improvement in the management of marine protected areas, as well as increasing the sustainability and resilience of coastal communities”, it states.
PaMAR began just over a year ago, in November 2023. According to Patrícia Rendall Rocha, a marine biologist who represents Fauna & Flora in Cape Verde, during the first few months, national NGOs monitored underwater marine ecosystems.
“During this year of the project, we carried out biomonitoring, that is, harmonizing the methodology for underwater biomonitoring, deciding on the bioindicators, that is, which species would be monitored during the project. Some NGOs monitor groupers, for example, while others monitor sharks,” he says.
At the same time, the aim is to strengthen the skills of local communities in marine conservation and to implement initiatives that enable the diversification of income for fishing communities and other vulnerable groups.
For Marco Paulo, from Projeto Vitó, this focus on communities is particularly important.
“It is an innovation in relation to projects that are implemented at a national level. We use a strategy that focuses more on communities, in order to give people a voice and a place to speak,” he stresses.
Local office
PaMAR is being implemented at a time when Fauna & Flora has decided to strengthen its own presence on the islands, by opening an office in São Vicente. The senior programme manager for São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde, Mariana Carvalho, explains that the aim is to be closer to Cape Verdean civil society, not in competition with national NGOs, but in collaboration.
“Ultimately, Fauna & Flora centralizes this extraordinary work that national NGOs already do in Cape Verde for marine conservation (…). We are here to facilitate this coordination between everyone, at a national level. We know that the islands have different characteristics, different accessibility, and the fact that there is an office and people dedicated to managing this consortium, information, data, communication, etc., facilitates the dissemination and continuity of the project”, she highlights.
Present in more than 40 countries, Fauna & Flora arrived in the archipelago more than a decade ago and had the Maio Biodiversity Foundation as its first partner. Janete Agues, the NGO’s executive director, believes that the physical and permanent presence, now assured, facilitates the implementation of projects and future access to international funds.
“This is a big step, because Fauna & Flora has been a great partner in the issue of protecting marine biodiversity. Having a representation here in Cape Verde greatly facilitates coordination in the implementation of the project, in the team that manages it and in accessing international funds”, he stresses.
The PaMAR project – Strengthening Marine Conservation in Cape Verde is financed by the Blue Action Fund, a European fund with origins in five countries – France, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Ireland. ARCADIA, a fund managed by Fauna & Flora itself, and Oceans 5, an international collaboration of funders, are co-funders.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
