Photo credit: Karen Bowles
Photo credit: Karen Bowles
The WIOMSA Mini-symposia are sessions that focus on presenting and discussing issues of regional importance for the purpose of developing syntheses on the current status of knowledge, furthering research and policy recommendations, and/or introducing novel perspectives and approaches.
Mini-symposia aim to establish connections with other research communities within and outside the region. This year’s sessions are aligned to the symposium theme of A New Decade of Ocean Science.
Read more about the each Mini-Symposium below.
This mini symposium is expected to create awareness on the impacts of bait fishery to the environment, highlight the need for research, policy and management of fishery for the conservation of the marine environment; especially the coastal environment. The session outputs shall be a document outlining research needs and a policy brief.
This session aims to bring together participants to discuss around the main challenges facing African countries in plastic waste management, highlighting the benefits brought by these materials to humanity as well as the associated negative impact on human health, the environment, and the economy. Several successful and failure stories and interventions that are currently being employed for plastic waste management worldwide will be shared.
Machecha, A. D.- Plastic waste generation and management: the challenges facing African urban centres – we ban, we change, or we collect it? |
Tywabu- Ngeva, Z. – Could recycling process and biodegradable plastics be the magic solutions to the plastic waste pollution problem in Africa? |
Mutuma, B. – Applications of nanotechnology in plastic waste recycling and management |
Midheme, E- The role of governments, policy makers, industry, and international co-operation in the successful and sustainable plastic waste management in Africa |
Mutuma, B.- Biodegradable plastics |
Mhlanga, S.D.-Plastic waste management: designing business solutions for wealth creation in Africa |
Gulamussen, N.J. – Plastic waste management: designing business solutions for wealth creation in Africa – Practical examples from Mozambique |
Karanja, N.M.- Plastic waste management: designing business solutions for wealth creation in Africa – Practical examples from Kenya |
This mini symposium will present the Regional MSP Strategic Framework for the WIO (commissioned by the Nairobi Convention) and discuss innovations (such as systems approaches) that can provide spatial and temporal scenarios for MSP futures in the WIO. The symposium aims to: share the Regional MSP Strategic Framework for the WIO and seek feedback from participants on its recommendations; engage with participants on aspects of regional MSP that remain challenging, for example, geo-politics, ocean crime, dynamic ocean management, climate-smart MSP, the inclusion of cultural knowledge, etc.; and capture new knowledge for a peer-reviewed scientific publication (that will add to the existing regional Strategic Framework and Policy Brief already produced).
Following on a special session run at Wiomsa 2019 the OctoPINTS project aims to conclude their work with a mini symposium inspired by the methodological approaches adopted over the past three years. In the 2019 session, OctoPINTS, together with practitioners and academics, explored diverse perspectives on what success meant in the context of periodic octopus closures across the WIO. The subsequent OctoPINTS research has explored both how Zanzibari communities perceive the success of community-based octopus closures as well as factors that lead to more or less successful outcomes.
The objectives of the proposed mini-symposium are four-fold: (1) to bring together a diverse audience to share success, lessons and examples of effective science, research and leadership for the Ocean Decade (2) to share and operationalize work plans for increasing visibility, awareness and communication of current and emerging ocean research and leadership (3) to collectively enhance sustainable resource mobilization and (4) to diversify and increase the support network for sustaining the pipeline for science, research and ocean leadership.
Kihia, S.; Uku, J.; Ater, S.; Kioko, M.; Kadagi, N.; Wambiji, N.- The Inclusion Of Artists In Ocean Science Communication (oral) |
Uku, J.; Kihia, S.; Ater, S.; Kioko, M.; Kadagi, N.; Wambiji, N. -Integrating Art into Ocean Literacy for policy and practice in Kenya (oral) |
Ater, S.; Kadagi, N.; Wambiji, N.; Osore M.K.- Accelerating Capacity For Science, Research, Policy And Leadership For The Western Indian Ocean (WIO): A Case Study Of The WIOMSA-MASMA Funded BILLFISH-WIO Project (oral) |
Kadagi, N.; Gomez-Byers, F.- Leveraging Funding Support To Enhance The Capacity For Ocean Science, Research And Leadership: The WWF-Education For Nature Approach. |
Wambua, S.- Building Change, Leveraging Intentionality: A personal account of developing capacity in the conservation genomics in resource poor setting |
Glaser, S.; Hassan, J.- Training The Next Generation Of Somali Marine Scientists |
Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) was commissioned by the Government of Tanzania to conduct stock assessment on five selected priority fisheries, viz: small pelagic species, tuna and tuna-like species, octopus, prawn, and reef fisheries. These priority fisheries were designed based on social, economic, nutrition and environmental criteria, as well as, in certain cases, the existence of an “Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management” (EAF) management plan for the fishery. Studies for the priority fisheries focused on all coastal districts from Tanga to Mtwara for a period of 5 years. The mini symposium will comprise of 13 presentations cutting across all five priority fisheries.