Our Sea Our Life: Empowering coastal communities in artisanal fisheries management in Mozambique

The ‘Our Sea Our Life’ (OSOL) project is addressing overfishing and threats to marine biodiversity and local livelihoods, aiming to create Community Fisher Councils (CCPs) for the management of Locally-Managed Marine Areas... [ view full abstract ]

The ‘Our Sea Our Life’ (OSOL) project is addressing overfishing and threats to marine biodiversity and local livelihoods, aiming to create Community Fisher Councils (CCPs) for the management of Locally-Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) in northern Mozambique. OSOL is working with six vulnerable communities (~8000 people) and to date over 4200ha (over 400ha of no-take zones and over 3800ha of temporary reserves) of LMMAs have been established and enforced, improving the resilience of coastal ecosystems and community well-being by creating CCPs for the management of marine areas. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are a successful element of the project, with over 466 households enrolled in 23 VSLAs, allowing communities to diversify their income and ensuring women’s financial autonomy.

OSOL is a project coordinated by the Zoological Society of London, in collaboration with the Mozambican Associacao do Meio Ambiente (AMA) and Universidade Lurio, the Kenyan CORDIO East Africa, and the Portuguese Universidade de Aveiro, and Universidade de Lisboa.