Settlement of fishers in the mangrove (Bijagos Archipelago)	Work Package 1 o balanço do papel das áreas protegidas marinhas e costeiras enquanto vector de conservação dos recursos naturais renováveis.	-- Home page Back

Assessment of the role of coastal and marine protected areas as a vector of conservation of renewable natural resources.(month 1 to month 6). The emphasis placed on the conservation of natural sustainable resources and on socio-economic development, and the subsequent questioning of the traditional concept of marine and coastal areas necessitates an assessment of the role of these areas as a vector in conservation before any reflection can be made concerning governance and options for public policy .As such, this first module combines data mainly from documentation, history, anthropology, and bio-ecology. The first priority was to establish a documentary base. This covers general references on coastal and marine protected areas and also references relating to the three particular areas in question. The aim of this research is to establish the main problems, dominant methodologies and the development of the latter. The historic study of the settlement and of the geopolitical entities of the coastal and marine protected areas is complemented by the study of the process of their creation, development and restructuring. This sheds light on the reality of a consciousness of identity and of heritage amongst the resident and peripheral peoples. This historic analysis is enriched by a study of vernacular knowledge as an expression of this consciousness. The assessment of the use of sustainable marine resources (sharks and rays, deep-sea fish, small pelagics, sea mammals etc…) and terrestrial resources (mangroves, pasture, other vegetation, livestock ) rests on the analysis of the dynamics of animal and plant populations, the effects of anthropic pressure and the natural constraints placed upon the environment. The results of this research indicate the degree of exploitation of resources according to their capacity for support and, in comparative terms, of the specificity of protected areas. The evaluation of the bio-ecological elements of coastal and marine protected areas is made via a collection of existing data, in particular that which is relative to the biomass and the trophic chain and by an application of the Ecopath and Ecospace models.

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