The association A-TANYI was formed after several meetings were held with the communities, to raise the awareness on the importance of seagrass. Association members, including women, engage in protecting and managing the restored seagrass meadows.

The seagrass restoration project had, at its onset, a social scientist who helped with collecting data related to perception of seagrass, with steering the discussions with NGOs, and with leading the awareness raising campaigns and formalization of initial thoughts about the need for managing the seagrass meadows.

The rod method was the main restoration method that we implemented. It was selected given its relatively higher survival rate (around 2/3) of the restored modules of one rod of seagrasses. 

The rod method is a manual sediment free method for seagrass restoration, which consists in the use of a wire stick or rod, where seagrass is tied and attached to the ground. The wire is bent and both ends are anchored in the soil, forming a so called rod. Seagrass modules (2-3 shoots united with the same rhizome) are attached to the rod. These rod structures are fully degradable after just over a year.

In Inhambane, we tested a palm leave nerve as a rod, as described as tségua method, having the disadvantage to be a highly time consuming restoration method.

The national fleet of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) highly depends on imported fuels and is therefore a significant source of GHG-emissions. The bilateral program “Transitioning to Low Carbon Sea Transport (LCST)” implemented by RMI and the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) aims at supporting the RMI Government´s planning and decision-making processes with respect to its low carbon future and the reduction of GHG-emissions from domestic sea transport, through consultancy, research, training, coordination of policy support to RMI and supporting in delivering RMI’s commitments under UNFCCC to achieve reduced GHG emissions from domestic shipping 40% below 2010 levels by 2030 and full decarbonization by 2050.

The Marshallese Government founded and is an active member of the High Ambition Coaltion for Shipping (SHAC) at IMO and UNFCCC and due to their ambition, the group of supporters of an ambitious contribution of sea transport to the climate goals is growing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international meetings and high-level conferences are taking place remotely to a high extend.

Ri Majol, the people of the Marshall Islands were known for their superior boat building and sailing skills for centuries. They traveled frequently between their atolls (for trade and war) on big offshore canoes called Walap (some of them 100ft long). The lagoons of their low-lying coral atolls where crested by sails of smaller outrigger canoe designs for rapid inside lagoon transportation, food gathering and fishing. Together with Waan Aelõñ in Majel, we are reviving the traditional knowlege combined with modern technology. The ambitious goals of the Marshall Islands in the sea transport sector have become the main driver and motivation for us to pursue and to transition towards a low carbon fleet for the Marshall Islands for transport inside the lagoons and between atolls. Currently, a 150 ft. Training Vessel is about to be constructed and delivered to RMI by the 2nd half of 2022. After the agreement of the design, the market survey process started with the objection to identify shipyards that are interested and capable of building the new built as drafted in the tender design. The Maritime Training Approach in the Marshall Islands sets a clear focus on Low Emission Sea Transport Education and will train future sailors as part of the national fleet operators.

The NEPL NP is located in one of the most remote parts of the country, far away from the key tourism hubs and airports. To attract visitors to this remote part of the country, clear marketing, excellent reputation and collaboration with the TOs and Travel Agents are essential.

Adopting a “complex-systems” approach meant mobilising all stakeholders in the elephant range around a common vision – the preservation of the Gourma elephants, a national and international heritage. This meant holding engagement workshops with each (government administration and technical services, tourism industry, schools, projects, programs and NGOs operating in the area) to understand their perspectives, and design impactful outreach materials and activities (including a schools program). It also meant engaging and coordinating the support of other institutions in-country (e.g. foreign embassies, MINUSMA, UNDP) to deliver.

At national level this has included working with government to draft an elephant management plan; create a mixed (forester-military) anti-poaching unit and engage expert anti-poaching trainers from Chengeta W.; and create a new protected area that covers the whole elephant migration route, using a biosphere reserve model. Multi-use zones are governed by local CBNRM conventions with foresters providing supplementary enforcement if required, thereby strengthening the community systems. This aligns government and community interests to mutually reinforce each other and provide a cost-effective approach to reserve management. This top-down approach complements the bottom-up approach of community engagement.

‘When you eat around a fire after a day of working together building fire-breaks, you realise we all have the same problems’.

In a context of limited resources, accommodating different livelihood practices (pastoralism, agriculture) that often come into conflict requires dialogue starting at the base. This is why the project acts as facilitator to help bring together the diverse clans and ethnicities of the elephant range to achieve unity towards a common goal – in this case the preservation of their natural resources and the regeneration of their ecosystem.

By coming together to address an environmental challenge communities benefit on multiple levels, which incentives them to collaborate further. The result is an altogether more resilient solution that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Benefits include healthier habitats; more abundant natural resources; increased food security and resilience in the face of adverse events; additional income; social empowerment incl. for women and youths; better social cohesion between and within communities; increased physical security as youths are provided with a locally respected occupations as ‘eco-guards’, which reduces the likelihood of them emigrating or joining armed groups; pride in their ability to contribute to their household and community, and exert some agency over their lives.

The project’s approach to community engagement is always to listen first, understand local problems and preoccupations, and discuss the issue of elephants within this context. Recognising all perspectives and developing a common perspective of the problem is a key first step. Identifying the parameters of the problem and the common vision is the next step. By then, asking communities to devise a solution, with the MEP as a stakeholder, builds their trust and imparts ownership, thereby fostering sustainability.

It implies a lot of unknowns, requires flexibility and a readiness to learn, but means that initiatives are a lot more likely to succeed because they rely on existing local knowledge and knowhow, and are automatically validated and adopted by participants from the start, essential elements to building locally adapted and therefore robust/resilient solutions.

The process involves the active participation of the communes’ mayors and the government’s technical services, whose role is to support communities in the implementation of local initiatives and their integration with commune development plans. All have to demonstrate their commitment if project activities are to go ahead. This strengthens local governance by empowering all stakeholders to take responsibility for the management of their natural resources together.

No species exists in a vacuum. A myriad interacting forces come into play to shape their fate, at levels that go far beyond their direct ecological environment. Recognising this means shifting the focus from the species alone to englobe the entire system (ecological, social, political, economic) in which they live. It also implies accepting the uncertainty that arises from these interactions “that simultaneously affect, and are shaped by, the wider system” (Canney, 2021). This means preconceived solutions have very little, if no, chance of truly succeeding.

Not knowing what to do forced the project to ask, observe and listen, letting the answer be shaped by the context. Over the years, it has meant understanding the social-ecological context to identify key intervention points where small inputs can have relatively large impacts, “planning for a greater degree of flexibility in responding to the unexpected, seizing opportunities, and adapting to changing circumstances” (idem), and working at different levels and with a variety of stakeholders to achieve objectives. While the initial focus was on elephants, this approach has in effect delivered multiple benefits and contributed to improving many problems at once, from ecosystem degradation to compromised livelihoods, youth unemployment, local governance and social conflict.