In a fish-loving country like Malawi, where fish is the main source of animal protein, but fisheries yields are in decline, great hope and effort is placed in the development of aquaculture. Better access to and regular consumption of fish, which is an important source of protein and essential micronutrients, can make an important contribution to overcoming development challenges. And food insecurity is one of the greatest in terms of public health. Women and children are particularly affected by malnutrition. The expansion and promotion of sustainable aquaculture represents an important approach to meeting a growing demand for fish.

This development requires – among many other aspects – innovations that contribute to successfully mastering challenges in the sector. With a focus on rural aquaculture, the Aquaculture Value Chain for Higher Income and Food Security Project in Malawi (AVCP), part of the Global Programme ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ under the special initiative ‘One World – No Hunger’ of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, is providing technical training to 4,500 small-scale producers in Malawi. Fish farming helps them improve both income and food security.

One of the common and complex challenges in rural aquaculture is the use of mixed-sex Tilapia fingerlings in low-input systems. This means that farmers only have a limited selection and quantity of agricultural by-products available with which to feed a rapidly growing fish population in the pond. This leads to increasing competition for oxygen and food, which leads to poor growth rates and often an acceleration of sexual maturity. Accordingly, final harvests often consist of rather small fish, which does not meet the widespread expectations of harvesting edible – “plate filling” – fish from aquaculture.

Given the unavailability or prohibitiveness of mono-sex fingerlings, fish feed and aerators in rural aquaculture, the project was challenged to find an alternative solution to improve the productivity of rural aquaculture and its contribution to household nutrition.

In the context of fisheries and aquaculture, the fish trap represents an evolution of existing harvesting methods. Unlike active fishing gear, such as seines, the fish traps require less labor and energy, which makes them very efficient in terms of catch effort. In addition, the fish traps do not physically harm the caught fish, so the fish can be taken out of the trap alive and in good health. Early experiments on partial harvests in aquaculture in Malawi date back to the 1990s, when different tools for intermittent harvest were tested. However, due to the inefficiency and labor-intensity of the methods, there has been no broad application or further developments.

Based on this knowledge, further literature research, and expert discussions, the idea was born to build and test a size-selective fish trap to regularly harvest the juveniles of the initial fish stock. This innovation is thought to control the stocking density, to optimize the use of supplementary feeds, and to not exceed the carrying capacity of the pond. Ideally, a successful application of the fish trap would result in households increasing their overall aquaculture productivity, whilst harvesting small quantities of small fish much more regularly than has been customary in aquaculture to date. The intermittently harvested fish can be consumed within the household or used to generate small amounts of regular income. Meanwhile, the initial fish stock (parent fish) will be grown to a larger size for the final harvest.

In a fish-loving country like Malawi, where fish is the main source of animal protein, but fisheries yields are in decline, great hope and effort is placed in the development of aquaculture. Better access to and regular consumption of fish, which is an important source of protein and essential micronutrients, can make an important contribution to overcoming development challenges. And food insecurity is one of the greatest in terms of public health. Women and children are particularly affected by malnutrition. The expansion and promotion of sustainable aquaculture represents an important approach to meeting a growing demand for fish.

This development requires – among many other aspects – innovations that contribute to successfully mastering challenges in the sector. With a focus on rural aquaculture, the Aquaculture Value Chain for Higher Income and Food Security Project in Malawi (AVCP), part of the Global Programme ‘Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture’ under the special initiative ‘One World – No Hunger’ of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, is providing technical training to 4,500 small-scale producers in Malawi. Fish farming helps them improve both income and food security.

One of the common and complex challenges in rural aquaculture is the use of mixed-sex Tilapia fingerlings in low-input systems. This means that farmers only have a limited selection and quantity of agricultural by-products available with which to feed a rapidly growing fish population in the pond. This leads to increasing competition for oxygen and food, which leads to poor growth rates and often an acceleration of sexual maturity. Accordingly, final harvests often consist of rather small fish, which does not meet the widespread expectations of harvesting edible – “plate filling” – fish from aquaculture.

Given the unavailability or prohibitiveness of mono-sex fingerlings, fish feed and aerators in rural aquaculture, the project was challenged to find an alternative solution to improve the productivity of rural aquaculture and its contribution to household nutrition.

Malnutrition is the most important aspect of food and nutrition insecurity and comes in many forms: undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies, often referred to as “hidden hunger”.

To be able to write a joint management plan, we need to agree on what we have to manage. A shared understanding of the key values and attributes is crucial. An important step for us was to facilitate meetings that brought  the national geological surveys in both Sweden and Finland together so they could discuss land uplift and ice age traces and consider the site in its totality. These discussions gave important insight on the geological attributes of the site. 

To get a clear overview of the key values of the property, excerpts from the SOUV for High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago were analysed and grouped together as seven key values. Attributes were listed for each key heritage value. This process gave a clear connection between the SOUV in the everyday work with WH management. It makes the abstract concept of World Heritage more tangibly associated to its management.

The program is community-driven which means the youths in schools and youth clubs as well as community members especially women in natural resource management committees are both participants in and beneficiaries of restoration efforts. The program enjoys great support from the traditional leaders. The community decides where restoration should be done, and how and when it should be done.  

The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

• Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
• Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
• Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
• Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

Beyond facilitating access to hard-to-reach locations, sailboats also provide useful modes of transport for deploying scientific instrumentation. The boats can carry scientific equipment, both for deployment in the ocean, but also for continual measurement by sensors that are permanently onboard. The race boats’ speed means that data from different locations can be captured across short timespans, something which is not achievable by most research vessels. Yachts can also be used to pilot and test new research technology and techniques, such as technology that allows results to be shared in real-time, and the OceanPack – a device which records essential ocean data from aboard the yachts. 

In a racing context, carrying devices that take meteorological measurements is not only beneficial for science partners, but also for the race participants themselves, as it helps to inform and improve weather forecasts that will impact their own decision-making and performances throughout the race. 

Using racing yachts for data collection paves the way for the installation and deployment of measuring devices on other vessels such as fishing or commercial boats, as well as other sailing boats. 

This building block empowers local communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to implement and sustain effective mangrove restoration initiatives. Through strategic engagement and capacity-building efforts, stakeholders are equipped with the technical expertise and resources required for Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR). These efforts include identifying and training CBEMR champions to act as catalysts for knowledge dissemination and practical restoration activities within their communities and institutions.

Wetlands International initiated capacity-building activities by engaging local communities in Lamu and Tana through CBOs, CFAs, and key government agencies, including KFS, KEFRI, KMFRI, the Lamu County Government, as well as CSOs such as WWF and the Northern Rangelands Trust. Women comprised 50% of the participants, taking a leading role in hands-on mangrove restoration efforts. Training sessions included sound restoration techniques based on the CBEMR approach, conducted in English and translated into Swahili for greater accessibility. These sessions integrated practical, relatable mangrove science with indigenous knowledge, fostering inclusivity and community ownership.

In addition, stakeholders were provided with simple tools such as refractometers and pH strips to conduct salinity and acidity tests, along with resources to support monitoring and adaptive management. 

CBEMR champions, nominated from CFAs, BMUs, youth groups, women groups, and government agencies, further amplified these efforts. These champions assist in mobilising communities, raising awareness, conducting restoration activities, monitoring progress, and performing ecological and social assessments. Government agency champions also serve as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) to ensure continuous capacity building within their institutions and communities.

Based on the success of the initial trainings in Lamu and other sites, Lamu KFS officials together with Wetlands International identified the need to spread this knowledge mainly at the policy and management levels within KFS among other key stakeholders. In partnership with KFS and MAP, we organised a CBEMR managerial training for the senior managers and coastal forest managers at KFS, Directors of Environment Department from the Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Tana River, and Lamu counties, academia from Kenya School of Forestry and Kenyatta University, partner organisations in Global Mangrove Alliance namely IUCN, WWF and TNC, and representatives from the Western Indian Ocean Mangrove Network and local journalists with specialisation in environmental issues. 

Collaboration with CSOs, the Global Mangrove Alliance, and other partners enhanced the initiative’s reach and impact, enabling regular training and knowledge-sharing activities across the mangrove regions.

The Ocean Race Teams Sustainability Charter and Code of Conduct was co-created with the teams to express a fleet-wide commitment to sustainable operations and supporting a healthy ocean. The charter includes themes of Advocacy, Science, Learning and Operations. It seeks to get all teams, staff, and sailors to stand up for the ocean through sustainable sailing, team, and personal actions. 

On the science front, teams must pledge to agree to:

• Supporting science-based decision making.
• Participating in increasing knowledge and understanding of our ocean.
• Hosting scientific equipment onboard.
• Participating in sailor and citizen science programmes.
• Contributing to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science in collaboration with The Ocean Race.

Including science within a charter and requiring stakeholders to undertake various science-related activities whilst competing in a sailing race embeds science, as a core value, into race practices. This is unique in the sporting world as it requires teams and athletes to take on environmental responsibilities as well as their existing sporting responsibilities.