Regenerative Seascapes for People Climate and Nature

The project aims to reduce coastal communities’ physical and socioeconomic vulnerability to adverse impacts of climate change in the Western Indian Ocean. The project aims to contribute to the African-led Great Blue Wall Initiative by supporting the establishment of a network of sustainable resilient and inclusive seascapes in Comoros Kenya Madagascar Mozambique and Tanzania. Three pillars of the project (Blue Planet Blue Partners and Blue People) aim to operationalize equitable nature-based solutions with biodiversity co-benefits for climate adaptation. The project activities include: (1) creating a red list of ecosystems for the Western Indian Ocean region; (2) identifying and setting up demonstration sites on nature-based solutions for adaptation focusing on inclusive ecosystem restoration solutions; and (3) coaching and coordination via a blue business incubator. The project partners C-for-C (Madagascar) Mission inclusion (L'Oeuvre Léger) (Canada) Muleide (Mozambique) International Union for the Conservation of Nature Groots (Kenya) Women Fund Tanzania Trust (Tanzania) and PFFDSA (Comoros) jointly planned and envisioned this project. The objective of the project is to support directly 33 840 (47 %) women and 13 680 (19 %) young women in all their diversity 15 120 (21 %) men and 9 360 (13 %) young men who are dependent on coastal and marine resources as well as decision-makers such as local regional and national authorities for their power to influence decisions about conservation. The project also targets 2 000 000 indirect beneficiaries. The project concentrates its efforts on the Lamu Seascape (Kenya) the Tanga-Pemba Seascape (Tanzania) the Inhambane Seascape (Mozambique) the Antsiranana Seascape (Madagascar) and the Moheli Seascape (Comoros).

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved effectiveness equitable and gender-responsive conservation of Western Indian Ocean marine protected areas and locally managed marine areas including key coastal and marine ecosystems for nature and people; (2) enhanced adoption of gender-responsive nature-based solutions for effective management and sustainable use of coastal and marine resources in the Western Indian Ocean region; and (3) increased economic empowerment of women in all their diversity in nature-based value chains for climate change adaptation in the Western Indian Ocean region.