SHAMA

As valuable coral reef ecosystems and associated fisheries are becoming increasingly degraded, the SHAMA project aims to create a research-action structure to sustain food security and livelihoods of the local community of Shark Fin Bay, Philippines. Fishing professionals will be trained to monitor ecological and social aspects of their activities in order to co-produce a report which will inform local management decisions.

Coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs are essential to the food security and livelihoods of local communities. Climate change, pollution and overfishing have led national authorities to take management actions in order to monitor and preserve these ecosystems. Unfortunately, they rarely take into account local contexts and can therefore be poorly suited or not accepted by local resource users. In the Shark Fin Bay community, Philippines, the SHAMA project intends to address this problem by adopting a bottom-up approach, where local stakeholders cooperate to take better management actions. A research structure including NGOs, researchers, local authorities and fishing associations will be created in order to highlight the valuable knowledge of local fisherfolk and integrate them in the regulation making process. They will also be trained in the scientific monitoring of coral reefs in order to co-produce a report informing future policy decisions. In addition, the project will provide educational material for schools and will aim to be replicated in neighbouring communities.