Fisheries and aquaculture currently contribute USD $24 billion to the economy in Africa, employing more than 12 million people across the continent. International organizations have been hard at work building ocean acidification capacity in Africa and providing excellent knowledge and resources for policymakers and resource managers.

Ocean Acidification Africa (OA-Africa) is a group of concerned scientists seeking to advance the study of ocean acidification for the benefit of informed policy and adaptive strategies in African coastal waters.

This “Ocean Acidification in Africa” document has been prepared in anticipation of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland on 31 October-12 November 2021. It calls for unique local, national, and regional ocean acidification research and provides recommendations for a Pan-African response. Read the full document here.

The Ocean Acidification Africa Hub is supported by Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network, The Ocean Foundation, International Atomic Energy Agency-Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre, and Future Earth Coasts.

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This new publication highlights the need for integrated approaches that bridge the gap between science, policy and society, as well as across different epistemological boundaries set by various management approaches.

Given the current focus on the sustainable use of coastal and ocean resources and their conservation, in light of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the authors call for an integrated research approach and draw from examples of challenges and good practices from projects and initiatives that apply multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary approaches. Find the article here.

Rölfer, L., Liconti, A., Prinz, N. and Klöcker, C., 2021.
Integrated Research for Integrated Ocean Management.
Frontiers in Marine Science.

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Lead by FEC Fellow Kyle Fawkes, the paper focuses on the evolution of global assessments of the marine environment and aims to provide guidance on their future direction. Critically, it looks across to other assessment domains and distils the principles that have enabled influential and action-oriented assessments to flourish.

To elaborate on these principles, the paper focuses on case study examples from the experiences of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the Global Environment Outlook (GEO). Finally, the paper speculates on how the distilled principles could best be applied within the context of global marine governance systems and the historical evolution of marine assessments. Find the article here.

Fawkes, K., Ferse, S., Scheffers, A. and Cummins, V., 2021.
Learning from experience: what the emerging global marine assessment community can learn from the social processes of other global environmental assessments.
Anthropocene Coasts, 4(1), pp.87-114.

Anthropocene Coasts is an academic journal concerned with multidisciplinary studies on the regime shift in response to concentrated human activities in the world estuarine and coastal regions, with the background of climate change.

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Organized by the Global Programme on Risk Assessment and Management for Adaptation to Climate Change (Loss and Damage), the virtual event discussed potential and already noticeable impacts of climate change on the ocean and coastal zones at the institutional level and with a special focus on the role of development cooperation.

Among some of the key issues addressed were the particular vulnerability and importance of small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and livelihoods, especially in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).

The report ‘The ocean in a changing climate: Rapidly growing risk of loss and damage?’ is available online and can be shared and redistributed.

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Prof Eric Wolanski, a FEC Academy member currently working at the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER) at James Cook University, Australia, shared with us a recently published opinion paper on the future of the Burdekin River basin.

In this piece, Prof Wolanski explains how this river basin is suffering from environmental degradation from historical, haphazard developments without integrated planning.

Among other issues is the fact that downstream is the Cape Bowling Green, a peninsula maintained by the balance between the incoming sand from the river and the coastal erosion. However, the Burdekin Falls dam is depriving the coast of new sediment and a projection predicts the peninsula is likely to erode and breach. This is likely to affect the wetlands in Bowling Green Bay which resident and migratory birds rely on.

With business case studies for raising the height of the Burdekin Falls Dam and for building three new dams, the author calls for a shift in the way Australia’s river systems are planned. Prof Wolanski encourages assessments that consider the cumulative effects of the proposed changes rather than looking at each factor independently.

Read the full paper: Burdekin 2021.

[Eric Wolanski. Threats to Biodiversity in Australia’s Burdekin River Basin. Biodiversity Online J. 1(3). BOJ.000513.2021.]

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Researchers from the FEC community are playing key roles in a number of activities and we are always keen to inform you about their progress and findings along the way. Bruce Glavovic, our current Co-Chair, is involved in the Belmont Forum funded project OCEANS PACT and BRICS coastal risk governance project.

Read more about OCEANS PACT here, and browse through some recent publications below:

• Haasnoot, M. et al., 2020.
  Defining the solution space to accelerate climate change adaptation, Regional Environmental Change, 20:37;
• Hanna, C., I. et al., 2020.
  The uncertainty contagion: Revealing the interrelated, cascading uncertainties of managed retreat, Sustainability, 12, 736;
• Schipper, E.L.F., et al., 2020.
  Turbulent transformation: Abrupt societal disruption and climate resilient development, Climate and Development;
• Schneider, P. et al., 2020.
  A rising tide of adaptation: Comparing two coastal regions in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Climate Risk Management, 30

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“The Marine Plastic Litter Issue: A Social-Economic Analysis” has been published in Sustainability as part of the Special Issue ‘Microplastics – Macro Challenge for Environmental Sustainability’ and is available online.

From the abstract: “The issue of marine plastic litter pollution is multifaceted, cross-sectoral, and ongoing in the absence of appropriate management measures. This study analysed the issue of marine plastic litter pollution in the context of the Descriptor 10 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Good Environmental Status of the oceans and seas.

The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was used to assess the causes, e ects, and management measures to changes in the marine environment resulting from marine plastics pollution. We noted that less than 10 peer-reviewed publications have applied the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model to the issue of marine plastics pollution.

Some basic needs such as food security, movement of goods and services, and shelter are also some of the major drivers of marine plastic pollution.” Find the full article here.

[Abalansa, S.; El Mahrad, B.; Vondolia, G.K.; Icely, J.; Newton, A. The Marine Plastic Litter Issue: A Social-Economic Analysis. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8677. doi:10.3390/su12208677]

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Sustaining China’s coastal resources: Recommendations to improve the state of the coasts in Hainan

What is the human impact on the coast of Hainan? This Policy Brief – available in English and Mandarin – summarizes the major findings of a long-term Sino-German research collaborative.

The team of authors found that aquaculture effluents, municipal sewage and antifouling paint of ships impair the water quality and organisms such as seagrasses and corals along the east coast of Hainan. In this Policy Brief, they present recommendations for a sustainable management of Hainan’s coastal ecosystems to safeguard the benefits of these precious coastal ecosystems to the people.

Dr. Jialin Zhang and PD Dr. Tim Jennerjahn from Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research are among the authors of this policy brief, which is part of a series aiming to inform policy-makers on the key results of the ZMT research projects and provide recommendations to policy-makers based on research results. Find the policy brief here. 

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Yongming Luo, Director of FEC IPO at YIC-CAS and REP at ISSAS is one of the co-editors of this recently published book.

This book focuses on microplastics as emerging persistent contaminants  in terrestrial environments. Scientists from around the globe review recent advances in multi-disciplinary research on micro(nano)plastics, including analytical methods; the sources, fate and distribution of  microplastics; ecological risks; toxicity and health risks; and control and countermeasures for microplastics in terrestrial environments.

Offering a comprehensive overview of microplastics in terrestrial environments, the book is a valuable resource for environmental researchers, ecologists and toxicologists, as well as for  policymakers and non-experts.
Click here to find out more.

[He, Defu; Luo, Yongming (Eds.): Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments: Emerging Contaminants and Major Challenges. Springer International Publishing, 2020. DOI]

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Excessive nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, have devastating effects on coastal marine ecosystems by causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen in the water, killing marine life.

Such nutrients can enter the sea in wastewater or run-off from agricultural land. However, a new review in open-access journal Frontiers in Marine Science highlights that problems caused by other human activities, such as climate change, can exacerbate these detrimental effects on marine ecosystems. The review suggests that an integrated approach considering land use, ecology and input from scientists, politicians and the public is required to defeat this terrible synergy.

“The threats posed by eutrophication include reduced water clarity, oxygen depletion, and toxic algal events that result in critical habitat losses such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests,” said Professor Thomas Malone of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “Other serious consequences include mass mortalities of marine animals, loss of biodiversity, and threats to human health.”

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-effects-nutrient-pollution-marine-ecosystems.html

FEC Academy member and Director of European REP Alice Newton is one of the co-authors.
Find the article here and read more on the findings in a review on phys.org.

[Malone, TC and Newton, A (2020): The Globalization of Cultural Eutrophication in the Coastal Ocean: Causes and Consequences. Front. Mar. Sci. 7:670. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00670]

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