This project cannot succeed on its own. For the long-term success of coral reef restoration, it was important to develop strong collaboration with locals, fisher communities, other stakeholders. Through the Tech4Nature partnership, we were able to get more support and engage locally with other stakeholders.
By engaging the fisher communities in coral reef restoration from the beginning of the project and allowing them to take part in eco-tourism activities. This not only saved the area from further damage but allowed the fishermen to generate more incomes through sustainable touristic activities while also enjoying the overspill of increased fish abundance in the area.
Close-up monitoring by local communities
Ownership by fishermen communities
Strong partnership with local companies
This has allowed us to continiously bring the work done underwater to the general public (global level).
Pathogen and disease detection under the PREDICT and PREDICT-2 projects as well as other research initiatives have generated a strong evidence base on the drivers of zoonotic diseases. In Liberia, the finding of Ebola virus antibodies in a bat provided evidence that Ebola is circulating in wildlife in the West Africa region and signaled that there are ongoing spillover risks requiring public health attention.
Involvement and partnership of international and national institutions ensured best practices in research activities. The National Public Health Institute provided important leadership to support outreach on the significance of the Ebola finding. Another key factor was the model practices demonstrated by the sampling team, involving safe handling and sampling and attention to animal welfare, which itself helped to increased awareness of these aspects by observant communities.
In the past, communities in Liberia have distrusted foreign researchers and do not typically have direct access to the findings from research activities. Communities were aware of the sampling activities around their villages; by seeing Liberian scientists involved in this work with their own eyes, they were more receptive to the findings.
