The "helicopter approach" has become part of our philosophy and is an important key to success in Protected Areas. As an NGO, we constantly hover between local and international, and we aim to be rooted locally, while universally connected.

We thrive to balance between local assets, skills, and needs, with international concepts and expertise, without the need to stop at any "intermediary".

We seek to be adaptive and collaborative in our management of the Reserve: we seek the guidance of locals to adapt techniques and recommendations to our local context.

Our staff and board members are predominantly local residents; we have direct links with local stakeholders, and we advance personal relationships over numbers in large scale surveys. On the other hand, we aim at adapting the international concepts of the Man and Biosphere Programme, and we seek to have an active role in regional and international networks, and to build partnerships with multilateral donors and international foundations.

We believe that by having been locally rooted, and internationally connected, we became trustworthy partners on both levels.

Recognising the value of Aldabra Atoll’s terrestrial and marine ecosystems, Aldabra was declared a special reserve in 1981 by the Seychelles government. Later on, due to its outstanding universal values, Aldabra was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. This meant that there was no extraction of the resources, no destruction of habitat and legal protection of the marine protected area. This legislative and legal framework provides the basis and support for protection of Aldabra and its biodiversity. Since then, green turtle nesting habitat have therefore been protected from development and destruction and green turtles on Aldabra, on land and in the sea, have been protected against poaching. In 2018, the marine protected area around Aldabra has been extended and covers now the whole Aldabra group inclusive Cosmoledo, Astove and Assumption. This represents an increased by 74,400 square kilometres of waters in this area, further strengthening the legal protection of the nesting habitat in Seychelles’ Outer islands.

Global warming and climate-change is a global issue and solutions to avert climate change from tipping over and slow down global warming should likewise be global in nature.   

"While we are relatively small individually…I believe that working together for a greater purpose, we can achieve our goals; many in body and one in mind." Ken Lee, Lotus Foods.

 ZIDOFA's attainment of near completed status for the targetted closed-loop organic SRI rice value chain in the span of just two years despite the absence of a resident sponsoring NGO or support organization is attributable to its strategic partnerships with both private organizations and government agencies.  As such, the various components of the value chain, mainly infrastructure, logistical and equipment support were granted by varying organizations and agencies.

At the start of the project, ZIDOFA submitted the Project Plan to as many private and government entities as possible and a year after project start, also submitted Executive Briefs to heads of agencies outlining the milestones, achievements and constraints met by the farmers.  As such, by year two, the concerned organizations and agencies were well aware of the project and eventually became project partners thereby setting an unprecedented model for convergence.

To make sure the project stayed on track to its aim and commitment to provide safe, affordable and healthy food for consumers, restore, protect and conserve biodiversity and to promote farmers' welfare, ZIDOFA farmers were actively engaged in the creation of ZIDOFA's Mission and Vision Statements by conducting a Strategic Plannig workshop by CORE, Philippines.  Additionally, a Communications Planning workshop was conducted by leading communications and media experts to ensure that ZIDOFA members were on the same page on how to market SRI as well as its flagship product, the Oregena (abbreviation for Organic REGENerative Agriculture) line of organic SRI Rices.
 

The ZIDOFA Mission: To advance holistic, farmer-managed and environment-friendly programs utilizing leading edge processes promoting quality agricultural and aquaculture products

The ZIDOFA Vision: ZIDOFA envisions itself as a reputable producer of quality and globally competitive organic agriculture and aquaculture products. It envisions a resilient and productive community where families are healthy,  happy and living harmoniously in a sustainable environment.

Financing the plantation of trees in poor developing countries is impossible. Banks need collateral but in general there is common land ownership and no kadaster. Often the population register is not complete so banks do not know where the money lender lives. At last trees start to produce after 5 to 7 years and banks want the interest and redemption as of the first year, so the money lender cannot pay its loan. For this reason not enough productive trees are planted, although agroforestry would be the best solution for dry and eroded countries.

The planting of trees in combination with vegetables offers a possibility to microfinance the planting. The trees cause long term cashflow, the vegetables produce food for the family, and they can sell their overproduction which causes the short term cashflow. The short term cashflow enables them to pay their microfinance. The microfinance can be done with a revolving fund.

The vegetables production in combination with the efficient water use, offers a possibility to reforest the world with productive trees. 

The microfinance can be given by a revolving fund. The money lender lends money, repays within a year, the fund can lend it again. This system can repeat itself eternally.

The Groasis Ecological Water Saving Technology consists of 5 building blocks:

1) Growboxx®/Waterboxx® plant cocoon

​intelligent bucket

Provides water to a tree and vegetables while creating a healthy micro-climate. Both boxes use 90% less water and provide a survival rate of +90%.

2) (Bio)Growsafe Telescoprotexx

protects plants

Plant protector against heat, frost, wind, (sand)storms, and grazing animals. Protects plants and speeds up to plant growth. Available in carton or polypropylene.

3) Growmaxx Mycorrhizae

assists and/or replaces fertilizer

Fungi that feed the plant and support a healthy root system. Fertilizers contain salt and in dry soil often burn the roots. Mycorrhizae replace expensive fertilizers (natural alternative) while supporting faster plant.

4) Capillary Drill

elevates planting productivity

Machine used to accelerate making planting holes while leaving the capillary system intact. Digging planting holes by hand takes 15 min/hole (32 – 40 holes/day). Capillary drill makes 6.000 holes per day.

5) Terracedixx

increases water infiltration

Machine is used to make mini-terraces to stimulate increased rainwater infiltration into the soil. Currently just 25% of (rain)water enters the soil in degraded areas, by using the Terracedixx up to 90% is harvested.

The success of the National Marine Sanctuary will largely depend upon the quality of its marine surveillance and enforcement. As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Palau lacks the resources to adequately patrol its waters.  Throughout the process of developing and implementing the PNMS, Palau has sought active partnerships with fellow nations, NGO’s and technology providers to develop and fund a comprehensive monitoring, control and surveillance strategy.  Palau now looks forward to numerous contributions to its surveillance and enforcement capacity in the coming months.

The actual expert elicitation assessment is carried out during a workshop or series of workshops, attended by appointed marine experts in the field of marine environmental or socio-economic sciences. The experts collaborate and discuss the status and trends on the different parameters for the marine assessment and come to a consensus score. The scores are recorded during the workshop and entered into the SOME website. Notes are taken by a rapporteur on the discussion and the details of relevant reports, papers or other documents are recorded . The interaction and discussions during the workshop should allow the editorial board to identify potential authors to participate in the subsequent report-writing phase of the process.

GRID-Arendal has created a pilot, web-based system to capture, analyse and display state of the marine environment assessment results: http://some.grida.no. The website allows for the real-time capture and display of data (scores for parameters, confidence, risks) during the workshop and provides an online template for the production of a State of Marine Environment Report. The content and graphics can be exported and used as the basis for a national or regional SOME report or the contents can be adapted for use within other formats as required. The database allows direct correlation to the outline of the World Ocean Assessment, thereby permitting cross-referencing and combining outcomes of the assessment to optimize it as a contribution to the international effort. Another key aspect is that the diagrams and outputs that are produced by the web site are designed for easy communication of the workshop results to policy- and decision-makers. The diagrams are simple, jargon-free and clearly communicate the main findings of the judgments made by the experts.

App development and use is a strategic process. This guide aims to assist in this process, follwing the Digital Principles.

First objectives and types of apps are analysed, before looking at strenghts and weaknesses, as well as alternatives to smartphones and apps as technology. A guide on researching the existing app market concludes this chapter.

Secondly the enabling environment of app development is considered, from user centred development, over budget considerations and development options.

Lastly, technical aspects of app development are explored, dwelling on user needs, functionality, platforms, back and frontend, distribution and hardware considerations.