CoastMan

Mangrove ecosystems are salt-tolerant coastal habitats in tropical and subtropical regions which protect coastal communities from flooding and harbour a multitude of species. 

Coastal Africa hosts 20% of the world's mangroves across 34 countries and communities rely on mangroves for livelihoods including fishing, charcoal production, fuelwood, and fish smoking. Exposed to sea level rise and erosion, coastal communities are vulnerable to climate change impacts due to poor socio-economic conditions, and dependence on mangrove ecosystems for their livelihoods. 

Despite their importance, African mangrove forests are in decline, driven by local resource pressures and environmental change. Rapidly growing youthful populations, poverty, and high youth unemployment, create challenges of daily survival, and a changing climate can exacerbate dependence on mangrove resources.

Exploring social dynamics and youth livelihoods in mangrove-dependent communities in Ghana and Tanzania, the University of Dundee team is engaging in co-produced participatory research using mixed methods. Using in-depth interviews, participatory mapping, and co-creating novel project outputs including a story map, we will disseminate project findings to communities, policy makers and other stakeholders locally and globally.

Part of the international and interdisciplinary CoastMan project, we are also contributing to CoastMan’s key objective of co-production and uptake of a multi-criteria Decision Support System (DSS), providing vulnerable communities and decision-makers a knowledge-based decision-making capacity to promote mitigation strategies and mangrove restoration and conservation.