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.

Much support was given to improve fisher capacity to manage their access to and use of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). The programme recognised that the establishment of marine managed and protected areas as a method of marine management has resulted in increased reliance on Fish Aggregating Devices installed outside the marine managed and protected areas, for sustenance of the fishery sector.  Fishers within the Carriacou Fisher Folks Inc also recognised this and the need for attention to be paid to the monitoring and management of this resource.  This beckoned the implementation of FAD Data Management training for fishers of Carriacou and Petit Martinique.  The training was facilitated through the Fisheries Department of the Government of Grenada, and included information sharing on, but not limited to data on marine conservation, history of FADs in the region, the importance of data collection, legislation, its challenges, development of informal protocols and rules, identifying fish species as well as data collection methodology and post data collection analysis.  The workshop also realised the commitment of fishers to establish GrenFAD, which will take the leading role in the management of the FADs.  The fishers agreed and signed off on the soft rules for FAD Fishing, membership and FAD fees, data collection, data collection templates and protocols for data collection and management.  Actors in the fishery sector and marine management/protection were also trained in the use of underwater drones for remote sensing. The Programme provided support for construction of at least 6 FADS for the St. Marks fishers in Dominica. In the case of Saint Lucia, the provision of navigational tools to assist in accessing the FAD locations, which are often many miles offshore, and generally speaking to assist with safety at sea.

Del análisis de políticas e instrumentos relevantes para la integración de humedales urbanos, se identificó como la principal herramienta de planificación de la gestión urbana los Planes o Programas Municipales de Desarrollo Urbano (PMDU). 

Aunque las autoridades municipales no regulan las actividades que se realizan en los humedales, sí pueden darles el artículo 115 constitucional, formular los instrumentos de planeación territorial y autorizar y controlar los usos de suelo de los territorios adyacentes o lejanos a los humedales, que pueden generar impactos, directos o indirectos, sobre los humedales. En este sentido, los municipios pueden: i) formular instrumentos de planeación territorial, ii) autorizar y controlar los usos de suelo de los territorios adyacentes o lejanos a los humedales (por ejemplo, construcciones), iii) controlar las descargas de aguas residuales a los sistemas de drenaje o alcantarillado de los centros de población, iv) inspeccionar, vigilar y fiscalizar las descargas de agua residuales por uso doméstico y público urbano que carezcan o que no formen parte de un sistema de alcantarillado y saneamiento, v) implementar plantas de tratamiento de agua, vi) prevenir y controlar los efectos sobre el medio ambiente ocasionados por la generación, transporte, almacenamiento, manejo, tratamiento y disposición final de residuos sólidos e industriales no considerados como peligrosos, entre otros, que de manera directa o indirecta pueden tener impacto en la calidad y cantidad de los servicios ecosistémicos de los humedales, vii) establecer zonas de conservación ecológica municipal, entre otros. Por lo tanto, las autoridades municipales están directamente vinculadas al control y prevención de los impactos que afectan a los humedales (expansión de ciudades, contaminación, dragado, relleno, sedimentación, disminución del caudal de agua, entre otros). 

La integración de los humedales en los PMDU es fundamental para controlar y prevenir los impactos a distancia o cercanía (bordes) que afectan los humedales y aprovechar de manera sostenible los servicios ecosistémicos que los humedales brinden.

Se realizó un análisis de los PMDU de los municipios de las tres regiones del proyecto BIOCITIS, y se evidenció que en el diagnostico reconocen en distinta medida, la importancia de los humedales urbanos y que los humedales urbanos son vulnerables a los elementos específicos de los metabolismos de las ciudades, como los cambios de uso de suelo, la gestión de aguas servidas y residuos sólidos, construcción de infraestructura y desarrollo inmobiliario y hotelero, salvo por contadas excepciones, la información entre los campos ambientales y de desarrollo está relacionada con un análisis de enfoque causa – efecto. Las estrategias de desarrollo planteados en los PDMU carecen de medidas concretas de control y prevención de las acciones de desarrollo que afectan la calidad de los humedales urbanos. 

Luego del diagnóstico de la integración de humedales urbanos en PMDU se analizaron las metodologías y guías sobre el diseño de PMDU que ayudan a los responsables de formular instrumentos de planificación urbana del municipio, elaborando estos documentos. Al igual que en los PMDU, se evidenció que, en las guías los humedales son considerados como elementos en el diagnóstico, pero no en la fase prospectiva de las estrategias, proyectos y líneas de acción. 

Como resultado del análisis, se generó una guía metodología para integrar humedales urbanos en los PMDU, para establecer orientaciones y pautas que faciliten la integración de estos humedales urbanos costeros, buscando potenciar la gestión urbana de estos ecosistemas.  La guía se diseñó para tomadores de decisión municipal, personas que formulan PMDU (técnicos municipales y consultores), y para personas interesadas en integrar el valor y la importancia de los humedales urbanos costeros en este esfuerzo de planificación urbana.

Se divulgo el manual en webinar a un total de 25 personas, y se aprovecho el contenido del material para la incorporación de criterios para la conservación de humedales urbanos costeros dentro del reglamento de la ley de asentamientos humanos de Quintana Roo. 

Building resilience of the agricultural sector against the effects of meteorological variations includes building the resilience of small businesses along the value chains which use the produce from agricultural production.  Through the Business Capacity Development measure, two women-only local agro-processing groups which process local produce for the local and national market, benefitted from theoretical lectures and hands-on exercises on crucial business aspects (costs, revenues, new product ideas, design, marketing and the management of their business) so they could apply the knowledge gained to improve the quality of their decision making.  The core topics addressed during the training were:  Entrepreneurship Essentials, Introduction to Marketing; Basic Book-Keeping Principles; Essential Costing Practices; Office Administration, financial education, business management and investment-driven market expansion and borrowing.

Educational and knowledge exchange programs were used to promote awareness of the importance of effectively managing ecosystems.  By focussing on the younger generation, the Programme sought to incorporate sustainability into its impacts as these youth would be the decisionmakers of the future. Further, there is the observation that children tend to share whatever they have learned with their parents. Thus, it is seen as an opportunity to reach the wider community with information.  Several approaches were executed.  In 2017, the Programme supported the Soufriere Scotts Head Marine Reserve (SSMR) Day in Dominica, a major collaborative effort between local authorities and the CATS programme.  500 primary school students and 81 teachers from 33 primary schools participated in activities that promote the understanding of the ridge to reef concept.  There was also adoption of the Soufriere Primary School as a Reef Guardian School.  This initiative served the dual purpose of educating and raising awareness of students and by extension, their parents, of the ridge to reef concept, and also making teachers more aware of these, so they could better instruct their students.  Also, in Soufriere Saint Lucia, three schools benefitted from support for the establishment of low chemical garden plots to produce food for the School Feeding Programmes embarked on these schools. The garden establishment also involved active participation of the children in the gardening process and revenue generation by the school through sale of excess produce.  This also realised development of management guidelines to be used by the schools for managing their existing plots as well as implementing similar. 

The CATS Programme was based on the acknowledgement that good practices within the terrestrial zone augur well for the health of the coasts and marine spaces.  Thus, it worked with practitioners (farmers, foresters, agroprocessors) within this space by teaching and reinforcing good practices that could be incorporated within their operations.  A small group was also taught the specialised skills for mushroom cultivation as an alternative to traditional crop production.  This niche area was anticipated to increase food production diversity as it aligned with the practices of good resource management, recycling of byproducts and resilience.  For practitioners at the management level, the Programme supported the training of various persons in the practical application of Unmanned Aerial Systems for natural resource management and monitoring.  Since CATS Programme’s introduction of this, several other organisations both private and public sector have embarked on similar trainings for their officers. 

In addition to the direct actors at the operational level, institutional decision-makers, independent quality offices, certification bodies and research institutions key actors to implement quality assurance of fish products on a national scale. The complexity of the value chain, which interferes with the traceability of the product, and the significant geographical distances between fish producers and consumers present a substantial challenge in maintaining the quality of fish. Therefore, it is difficult to trace back the product's source when spoiled or inferior fish reaches the consumers.

Fish production and distribution are conducted both formally (e.g. through organized cooperatives) and informally by individuals. In most developing countries, the fish value chain predominantly follows an informal market system with limited quality management and traceability systems for fish. In the absence of traceability, there are concerns about trust and transparency in the marketing and consumption of fish in terms of the quality, food safety and price of products, which ultimately affects both consumers and fish sellers.

Direct partnerships with local food inspection authorities can be promoted to enable compliance with quality and hygiene standards to be checked throughout the value chain and to address the issue of traceability. On the other hand, non-compliance goes hand in hand with discarding spoiled fish from the market. The discard is an efficient incentive to adhere to the implementation of quality standards, because it is immediately accompanied by a loss of income for the fisherman or trader.

A hygiene and quality control plan – developed jointly with local inspection authorities- helps to guarantee regular sampling and analysis of fishery and aquaculture products. The control measures must target the complete value chain e.g. boats, production facilities, means of transportation, processing plants as well as distribution and sales points and be carried out systematically. This is only possible if all the necessary laboratory and health testing equipment is available and can be used by local staff. Training and exchange trips to comparable institutions in other countries improve the employees' ability to handle new equipment and technologies and consolidate their knowledge of different analytical methods and processes of hygiene inspections.

Implementation experiences should be regularly discussed with political decision-makers, associations and value chain actors. To secure efforts sustainably, it is important to integrate the costs of the sampling and analysing into the annual financial plans of the inspection authorities and to acquire financial contributions for the long-term. Clearing out financial obstacles is more likely to be successful if the hygiene and quality control plan is in line with local political strategies.

In order to improve the traceability and control of fishery and aquaculture products, so-called first sale certificates can be introduced by local inspection bodies. They should be issued at the most important landing or production points and contain information on the species, the origin of the product, the seller and the destination. Digital certificates are suitable for registering the above-mentioned information directly at the first sales at the production and landing points and should be monitored centrally. This facilitates the authorities’ work and saves resources. 

To further enhance compliance of the value-chain actors with hygiene and quality standards, action plans can be developed in direct cooperation with fish markets, fish auction halls and other important points of sale. The action plan must set out the measures being planned, a timetable, the financial and material resources required and a monitoring and evaluation system for ensuring the envisioned hygiene and quality standards.

Organizational and procedural measures may include: a commitment by the management of these trading centers to take responsibility for the hygiene and quality of fishery products, an adapted organizational chart for better control of the hygiene and quality of products, a charter for an extended committee to support the implementation of the action plan and/or a code of good hygiene practices for the employees of the respective entity.

In addition, mobile applications can help to connect information from both sides. For example, the direct actors in the value chain can receive information on hygiene and quality requirements of the fish market or the procedure of getting a first sale certificate. At the same time the fish market can register stands and actors and provide an overview for hygiene inspectors where and when to perform quality inspections. At the same time, an app can simplify the exchange of best practice guidelines, training materials, as well as other communication products interesting for the sector (advertisements, recipe videos, etc.).