DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Building Socio-Ecological Resilience to Coral Reef Degradation in the Islands of the Western Indian Ocean

Project disclaimer

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Description

Half a billion people directly utilise coral reefs for essential ecosystem services (ES) such as food and coastal protection, many of whom live within rural areas of the poorest developing countries. This dependence is especially pronounced across the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. Coral reefs have been experiencing major and sustained ecological degradation, exacerbated by climate change. The resultant changes to these ecosystems are potentially devastating to coastal communities. This project was co-developed with stakeholders from around the WIO and the UK, and involves a team with interdisciplinary expertise in natural science (coral reefs and ecosystem services), social science including governance and development studies, environmental economics, psychology, geography, theology, arts (a blend of fine art and design), and health. The project is ambitious in scope and is anticipated to generate novel and innovative outputs. The project aims to create a network of experts from local community, government, NGO and academic stakeholders from the UK, Mauritius, Zanzibar and other WIO islands to scope opportunities for using ES related research to define and refine strategies and priorities for building socio-ecological resilience to long-term change in coral reefs. The project will involve four interlinked activities that will draw on the diversity of expertise and disciplinary backgrounds of the project team, subcontractors and project partners: (1) Strategies that are currently used to manage coral reefs and which are often assumed to build resilience to climate change impacts will be mapped and assessed. The extent to which the ES framework is applied will be identified and assessment made of how it could be more effectively used in future to support the design of such strategies. (2) A workshop in Mauritius will involve stakeholders from Mauritius (including Rodrigues), Zanzibar, Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles and Kenya. This will include assessment of i) perceptions of the role of community management and institutions, and actions needed to overcome barriers; ii) opportunities to incentivise action; iii) communication strategies for building resilience. The workshop will include interactive sessions to provide an in-depth analysis of risk (including differences between public and expert framings) and a visual arts approach to participatory mapping to create experiential learning and elicit the more nuanced and intangible aspects of perception, values and identities in the context of real world ecological risk. Drawing participant experience and expertise, a protocol of these activities (involving a film) for replication elsewhere and a synthesis report will be co-developed. (3) The protocol will be piloted in Mauritius and Zanzibar to explore the socio-cultural risks associated with different community-specific resilience strategies and different groups within the community, in order to validate the synthesis report and promote further reflection and dialogue on risks and values associated with coral reefs. It is anticipated that the culturally sensitive approach will allow a better means of investigating localised knowledge, more diverse identities and the dynamics of subject formation. (4) A UK workshop will bring together partners from Mauritius, Madagascar, Zanzibar and the UK to synthesise project outputs, focusing on identifying gaps that can be addressed using the ES framework and the potential for future UK-WIO collaborations, as well as reflecting on the project activities in terms of multi-disciplinary working, engagement with stakeholders and the lessons learnt from this process. The structure for a journal article together with initial draft text and a timetable for final submission will be developed to ensure an academic legacy from the work. The workshop will also provide a platform for the non-UK partners to present their work and access a wider network of potential UK collaborators.

Objectives

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Mauritius