“The project “”Building a Blue Future for Ecosystems and People on the East African Coast, shortly “”Blue Future””, was officially launched on the 23 August 2022 in Maputo which was preceded, on the 22nd August, by an internal partner workshop where the teams had the opportunity to get to know each other and clarify their responsibilities, ensure that all project members were properly aware of the different components and that they are properly coordinated, and planning the project activities adequately, to promote the effective implementation of the project
The project main objective is to establish a sustainable use Marine Conservation Area that will contribute to the achievement of national targets, while enhancing priority biodiversity and ecosystem services that contribute to reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience of local communities to climate change impacts, promoting effective prevention and adaptation, aiding coastal protection and supporting alternative livelihoods to fisheries.
This 5-year ecosystem-based adaptation project is led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in coordination with the Mozambican Oceanographic Institute (InOM) and with the support of several partners, namely the Development Aid from People to People (ADPP), the Department of Biological Sciences of Eduardo Mondlane University (DCB-UEM), the Association for the Environment (AMA), ProAzul and the Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND). The partners had an interna.
With a total budget of approximately 8 million euros, the project is mainly funded by the Blue Action Fund (with contribution from the Green Climate Fund), Oceans 5, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and other smaller donors, including some of the project partners. The project expects to reach almost 15,000 direct beneficiaries and 100,000 indirect beneficiaries.
The target area includes the whole stretch of coastline between the mouth of the River Lúrio (northern limit of the Nampula Province) and the southern limit of Mossuril District/Mozambique Island. This is a very important area for biodiversity especially for coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves, and has been flagged over time by different initiatives as a very important area for conservation.
Before the official launch of the event, a working session was held with all the project partners to discuss the technical aspects and define the subsequent steps. The project is designed to be implemented over five years and part of the implementation team will be based in Nacala.”
