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WCC 2020 Res 078 - Activity Report

General Information
IUCN Constituent: 
IUCN Washington DC Office
IUCN Constituent type: 
IUCN Secretariat
Period covered: 
2024
Geographic scope: 
Africa
Country/Territory: 
Kenya
Madagascar
Mozambique
In implementing this Resolution your organization has worked/consulted with...
IUCN Members: 
SHOQATA E KERKIMEVE URBANE ( URI ) / Albania
WWF - Deutschland ( WWF ) / Germany
Wetlands International / The Netherlands
Mangrove Action Project ( MAP ) / United States of America
IUCN Secretariat: 
Yes
Other non-IUCN related organisations: 
WWF Kenya, WWF Mozambique, WWF Madagascar, Wetlands International Global Office, Wetlands International East Africa, Mangrove Action Project, Community Forest Associations, Kenya Government Services, Mozambique Government Services, Global Mangrove Alliance, local NGOs
Implementation
Indicate and briefly describe any actions that have been carried out to implement this Resolution: 
ActionDescriptionStatus
Capacity-buildingDuring its third phase, SOMN contributes towards the establishment of a National Knowledge Hub, which was inaugurated in early 2024 in the Maputo National Park. The Hub will be used for capacity-building and scienctific purposes, including for mangroves, which are located in the park. SOMN has been involved in developing training materials through a consultancy. Trainings to be held in the hub are currently being designed. Two Community-based ecological mangrove restoration trainings were held during the third phase of SOMN, one in Mombasa, Kenya and one in Maputo, Mozambique. The trainings built capacity on best practices for mangrove restoration, aiming to increase awareness of the importance of restoring environmental conditions such as hydrology and addressing the factors that have contributed towards mangrove degradation before planting mangroves, as many mangrove plantations fail after a few years. The trainings were attended by government representatives, scientists and community leaders. These trainings were highly successful, with participants indicating they had a better understanding of mangrove restoration and plans underway to utilize the learnt information to continue trainings by mangrove scientists in Mozambique. To facilitate mangrove conservation knowledge and streamline management, SOMN to date organized several dialogues and exchange visits. Among those were a meeting to mainstream the Western Indian Ocean Regional Mangrove Action Plan (being developed under the Bengo „Sustainable Mangrove Use“ project), community exchange visits and a conflict-resolution dialogue with different community-based organizations. The latter is based on existing diverging views of community groups on rights to mangrove resources. The meeting focused on roles and responsibilities, legal frameworks and the development of action plans to harmonize policies and sensitize resource users to legal guidelines in order to develop collaborative frameworks. On-going
Convene stakeholders/NetworkingThe events and workshops mentioned under capacity building and policy influencing/advocacy also served as networking events to convene different stakeholders and encourage collaboration.On-going
Education/Communication/Raising awarenessThe knowledge hub in Maputo National Park which was operationalized under SOMN3 will also serve as an education training center.On-going
Field activitiesNot applicable- None -
FundraisingFirst discussions were held and a draft plan has been designed to develop a regional proposal on mangroves as Nature-based Solutions. Additionally, SOMN made a small contribution towards the development of a second regional proposal for mangrove conservation, which is awaiting submission. On-going
Policy influencing/advocacyThe initiative has contributed towards the Lamu climate change plan (finalized), the Tana River County Climate Action Plan (finalized) and is involved in the NBSAP update discussions currently ongoing in Kenya, with SOMN contributing in particular to the targets relevant to mangroves. Additionally, the initiative has operationalized the National and County Mangrove Management Committees in Kenya, including the development of a monitoring tool for mangrove actions in the country and the mapping of existing mangrove conservation and restoration actions in the country. These extensively mapped actions have been integrated into a National Mangrove Portal, which has been pre-launched on World Mangrove Day on 26th July 2024 (some data sets are still to be collected). Further, the initiative has been working to create a Technical Order to mainstream the best practice mangrove restoration guidelines into national guidelines. The national guidelines are now being finalized and will be launched during the initiative’s duration. In Mozambique, SOMN convened a policy dialogue together with the Ministry of Land and Environment aiming to increase adaptive management of sensitive marine ecosystems, including mangroves, which was attended by government staff, NGOs, academia, and other civil society organizations. Further dialogues are planned to integrate the National Territorial Plan into other policies and strategies. Due to the national elections in October 2024, the policy work will have to be aligned with the new governments plans. On-going
Scientific/technical activitiesWork on creating a new layer to the Global Mangrove Watch platform, showcasing the extent of mangroves in 2023 is ongoing. To highlight the usability of the tool for on-the-ground mangrove management, SOMN contributed a section on the Global Mangrove Watch alerts (warnings generated monthly when mangrove cover reduces significantly in one area) to the State of the World Mangroves report 2024, including two case studies on how the alerts can be utilized. On-going
Identify and briefly describe what future actions are planned for the implementation of this Resolution: 
Additional Information