Cosmas Munga, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environment and Health Sciences at Technical University of Mombasa, has recently secured a $140,000 grant in the recently launched WIOMSA programme, "Sustainable Blue Future in the Western Indian Ocean – Institutional Strengthening through Science, Capacity and Assimilation for a Sustainable Blue Future (SCALABLE) 2023–2026." This prestigious programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Professor Munga will be leading an important project under SCALABLE titled "Science to Management through Stakeholder Engagement in Western Indian Ocean Estuarine Systems (Estuarize 2.0)." The project is spearheaded by the Technical University of Mombasa and aims to engage stakeholders in developing tailored monitoring, evaluation, and management tools for estuaries in the Western Indian Ocean. These tools will be tested in selected estuaries across Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa.
This initiative is the second phase of the Estuarize-WIO project (2016-2019), which produced valuable data on natural resource use and socio-ecological systems in estuaries and was featured in a special issue of the WIO Journal of Marine Science in 2021.
To facilitate this, Estuary Working Groups (EWGs) will be established to refine the tools, enhance capacity for their use, and implement localized management actions. These groups will include scientific experts, local knowledge holders, resource users, and governance representatives. The goal is to foster sustainable socio-ecological systems in future estuaries, managed collaboratively by local EWGs that rely on both scientific and local knowledge to address challenges.
The SCALABLE funding instrument aims to enhance marine science findings to improve policy and coastal resource management in the Western Indian Ocean. Estuarize 2.0 builds on the findings of its predecessor, highlighting that human-induced factors within estuaries and their catchment areas significantly affect estuarine functioning and associated livelihoods.
This initiative brings together an outstanding consortium of partner institutions, including:
1. The Oceanographic Research Institute, South Africa
2. Oceanographic Institute of Mozambique
3. Centre for Marine Research and Technology of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique
4. Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute
5. Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
6. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute
7. Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Kenya
8. Norwegian College of Fisheries Science (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
The scope of this work is truly groundbreaking and will have a lasting impact on the sustainable management of estuarine systems in the Western Indian Ocean.
