Ocean and Coastal Information in Support of Marine Resources and Biodiversity in the Macaronesia and Sao Tome and Principe region

The AIR Centre is working to define scientific and technological initiatives to undertake in the Macaronesia and Sao Tome and Principe region. In coordination with GEO Blue Planet Initiative and the Marine Biodiversity Network (MBON), it is co-organizing a series of workshops in Faial (Azores, Portugal), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Portugal), Mindelo (Cape Verde), São Tome (Sao Tome and Principe) and Funchal (Madeira Island, Portugal) during October 2108 until July 2019. The workshops aim to identify Earth Observation (EO) ocean and coastal needs for fisheries, marine aquaculture, biodiversity and marine spatial planning in the region. This initiative is aligned with the Praia Declaration topic “Marine Resources and Biodiversity: Promote Sustainable Fisheries, aquaculture and ecosystem valorization”, signed by eight countries at the 3rd AIR Centre High Level Dialogue that took place in Praia, Cape Verde, May 7-8, 2018. Image Credits: MODIS Rapid Response team.

  • Project objectives
    The challenges related to sustainable development faced by the Macaronesia and Sao Tome and Principe and neighbouring coastal countries are closely linked to marine resources and biodiversity. The sustainable management of fisheries and biodiversity and the development of sustainable managed aquaculture has the potential not only to sustain the ocean resources for current and future generations, but also to improve traditional livelihoods in the region.

    The main objectives of the project

    • Inform local and regional stakeholders about the technology and methods for deriving ocean and coastal information for use in sustainable fisheries management, aquaculture site selection and management and biodiversity monitoring;
    • Support local and regional decision makers on the use on ocean and coastal information to assess marine and coastal spatial planning options;• Identify potential marine resources and biodiversity initiatives for the AIR Centre and relevant partners to pursue in the region;
    • Map capacities needed in the region for deriving ocean and coastal information, identify gaps and promote capacity and institution building initiatives in the region.
  • Report
    The report with conclusions and recommendations will be soon published.

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