{"id":17715,"date":"2019-08-06T17:40:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T16:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=17715"},"modified":"2019-08-06T17:45:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T16:45:09","slug":"navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating back to sustainability: perspectives from Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first time I sat down to interview <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/team\/haji-machano\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haji Machano<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, he told me a story about his first ever trip from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Unguja\/@-6.0998986,39.1008246,10z\/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x185d29602a2909e5:0xa035af4aad9b7d5f!8m2!3d-6.1357295!4d39.3621196\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unguja<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Zanzibar) to mainland Tanzania, some twenty years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We were sailing at night, and the skipper used the stars to navigate. He told me he could pinpoint two stars and follow them until he reached a certain inlet, which would lead us through dangerous reefs, islets and sandbanks to Tanga on the Tanzanian coast.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People also used the stars and landmarks to set and retrieve fishing traps, and so didn\u2019t need to leave buoys or markers of any sort at the surface. This sort of traditional knowledge is being lost in fishing communities now. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Younger generations are not getting involved much with offshore fisheries, or if they do, they use GPS. <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nonetheless, there are still some remnants of traditional systems present in most communities. No matter how eroded, every community has its culture.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haji\u2019s story brought to life the skills and traditions held by many coastal communities in East Africa, and illustrates how external forces are contributing to the loss of these traditions. I recently had the pleasure to interview him again, along with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/team\/khamis-juma\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khamis Juma<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who are Partner Support Technicians for Blue Ventures in East Africa. Between them, they have over four decades of experience in marine management and community engagement in Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haji and Khamis are part of a larger team of Blue Ventures technicians working with local partner organisations in the western Indian Ocean and southeast Asia. Through these partnerships, coastal communities are introduced to, or encouraged to restore, locally led fisheries management and marine conservation practices. Drawing from their accumulated experiences working alongside fishing communities in the region, Haji and Khamis offer invaluable insight into the importance of working with coastal communities to manage their fisheries, and the skills needed to make it work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17720\" style=\"width: 1930px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17720\" class=\"wp-image-17720 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-98x65.jpg 98w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-536x357.jpg 536w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-725x483.jpg 725w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-1300x867.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/X13A0662_low-300x200.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1920px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1920\/1280;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-17720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jambiani beach, Zanzibar | Photo by Martin Muir<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"pull-right\">Haji Machano has been a Partner Support Technician for Blue Ventures in East Africa for two years. Before he joined our team, he worked with WWF Tanzania for over a decade and prior to that, he worked for the Department of the Environment in Zanzibar. Khamis Juma joined Blue Ventures in April 2018, having previously worked alongside Haji in WWF. Their current roles involve supporting Blue Ventures\u2019 partners in Tanzania \u2013 mainly the NGOs <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mwambao.or.tz\/\">Mwambao<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecultures.org\/en\">marinecultures.org<\/a> \u2013 as well as partners in <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/phe-training-brings-new-partners-together-in-the-lamu-archipelago\/\">Kenya<\/a> and Mozambique.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>RL: Can you tell me about the history of community-led fisheries management in Tanzania?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historically in Zanzibar, there were cultural practices regulating access to certain natural resources that were valued by the communities, along the same lines as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/discover.blueventures.org\/marine-management-pays-2\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">periodic octopus fishery closures<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Blue Ventures supports. On <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Tumbatu+Island\/@-5.8071538,39.1573074,12z\/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x1843222d63b36f87:0x20fc4d2a5711ff3c!8m2!3d-5.8217139!4d39.2219622\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tumbatu Island<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, mangroves and coconuts were subject to periodic restrictions some thirty years ago. Community leaders implemented these restrictions, known locally as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kambi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to ensure a continued supply of important materials, such as a communal source of timber that could be used in case of a house fire, for example, or to raise funds for Ramadan and other major festivals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These practices began to wane as more formal, top-down management systems started to be implemented. These systems were not effective, but at the same time, the traditional <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kambi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> systems lost the respect required for them to work. As a result, management of natural resources started to fall apart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 296px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 448px; height: 300px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\/mwambao-haji_low\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"17716\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Mwambao-Haji_low.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;MWAMBAO&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;MWAMBAO&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mwambao Haji_low\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Mwambao-Haji_low-536x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Mwambao-Haji_low-725x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Mwambao-Haji_low-444x296.jpg\" width=\"444\" height=\"296\" align=\"left\" title=\"Mwambao Haji_low\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 444px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 444\/296;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Haji Machano | Photo by Mwambao<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 447px; height: 300px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\/dsc_0700_low\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"17724\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0700_low.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1067\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D3200&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1554094371&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;60&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1600&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0700_low\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0700_low-536x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0700_low-725x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0700_low-443x296.jpg\" width=\"443\" height=\"296\" align=\"left\" title=\"DSC_0700_low\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 443px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 443\/296;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Khamis Juma  | Photo by Ruth Leeney<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>RL: What are the most valuable lessons you\u2019ve learned from your decades of experience engaging with fishing communities?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I&#8217;ve learned there is no straight path. There has to be a lot of flexibility. It is really a \u2018learning-by-doing\u2019 process every time you start to work with a new community. But if you\u2019re not willing to take a trial-and-error approach, then this community-focused co-management work is not for you!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be so simple if you could do your homework and learn about communities in advance, find out what the issues are, then plan your activities for developing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">co-managemen<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">t (where local communities and government work together to manage fisheries and coastal environments). In actual fact, this won\u2019t work because communities are dynamic, everything is changing at every moment. You can start on the right foot, but then the people involved change or the relationships between the community and other stakeholders changes \u2013 so your strategy has to change too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communities are really diverse, and there are cultural aspects which may promote or hinder their willingness to get involved in co-management. Bringing an informal approach, where community and government interact, into the formal framework takes time and resources. It involves plenty of back-and-forth between government offices and communities, and amongst communities themselves. \u00a0In an ideal world, we would have a simple programme with a beginning, middle and end, but in reality there is no such thing and there are lots of uncertainties in this process. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re not willing to take a trial-and-error approach, then this community-focused co-management work is not for you!<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>RL: When you meet a community for the first time, what\u2019s the first thing you talk about with them?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You have to find an entry point, and usually that means asking them about the challenges they face. But by discussing those issues, you can create a heated atmosphere, which is not necessarily how you want things to start off! Nonetheless, it\u2019s important to identify the issues people are up against. In actual fact, even if you start by discussing another topic, the community will bring you back around to what they want to discuss. If that issue is not the one you want to address then you need to find links between that and the issues you are able to help them to tackle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17748\" style=\"width: 829px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17748\" class=\"wp-image-17748 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-535x357.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"547\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-535x357.jpg 535w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-97x65.jpg 97w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-724x483.jpg 724w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-1300x867.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Haji-teaching-marine-cultures-about-data-entry-1.jpg 1975w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 819px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 819\/547;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-17748\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haji training marinecultures.org staff in Zanzibar | Hannah Gilchrist, Blue Ventures<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>RL:<\/em> <em>I see &#8211; so you always prioritise the community\u2019s needs in discussions, as a way to show that the co-management approach is meant to benefit them as well as the marine environment.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed. And whatever subject you are discussing, your attitude is more important than anything else. Sometimes, communities may start talking about issues that do not seem linked to the focus of our work, but we always take the time to listen to them. I sometimes find that the people we work alongside in coastal communities have an indirect way of speaking, but it\u2019s important to be patient and let them get to their point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, the answer to a question you posed might at first seem totally irrelevant, but if you explore and dig more into that answer, you may find a meaning behind it which is really relevant and important in the bigger picture! You have to be committed to listening and learning about the social, economic and cultural aspects of their lives, to really understand the dynamics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>HM:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The language we use is also very important. From one village to the next there are different names for fish species, fishing sites and so on. You have to speak the same language as the community, otherwise it\u2019s very difficult to engage in meaningful discussions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>KJ:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Communities may have a very different understanding of certain words and terms. When we were working with the Kilwa community (in mainland Tanzania), they did not like to hear the word \u2018conservation\u2019 (\u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hifasi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 in Kiswahili) because they associate the word \u2018conservation\u2019 with sacrifice. But if it is expressed in a different way, for example: \u2018wise use of resources so you can use them today, tomorrow, and for your children\u2019, people are more open to continuing the conversation! We really try not to use more technical terms like \u2018LMMA\u2019 (locally managed marine area) or \u2018marine park\u2019 \u2013 they may not mean much to a community. It\u2019s better to talk about what your end goals are, and how they will benefit the marine environment <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>HM:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> People who come from outside of these coastal communities, and perhaps have a high level of education or a government job, sometimes approach coastal communities as if they are inferior in some way. But when you are working with a community, you need to forget about your status, be humble, and attempt to learn from that community. Particularly with coastal communities, that\u2019s the way to win their hearts. If you take your status with you to a coastal community with your status, you will leave with only your status!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you take your status with you to a coastal community, you will leave with only your status&#8230;. You need to remove that status, be humble, and attempt to learn from that community.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>RL:<\/em> <em>Over the many years you have been working with coastal communities in Tanzania and Zanzibar, what kinds of changes have you seen?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>KJ:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> When we started using this co-management approach, the majority of people working in NGOs and government were not confident that communities would be engaged, would try new approaches and really engage with the idea of management. But what I have seen is that communities really are getting involved! They are using new technologies like smart phones to collect fisheries data. After a long investment to build capacity amongst community members, they now enforce their own management decisions, themselves; they assess their own performance and come up with ideas for addressing the challenges they face. This is positive change and real progress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>RL: What is the most challenging part of your work, and how do you deal with it?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>KJ: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, we aim to fulfil targets that we have promised to our funders, but with co-management, it\u2019s not easy to meet those targets in short timeframes, because of the community dynamics I just mentioned. Things often take far longer than anticipated and changes in community members\u2019 lives directly impact upon the progress of any given project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Co-management really requires prolonged engagement with communities. We are addressing many things simultaneously \u2013 not just fisheries management but also building capacity for management within the community, addressing conflicts and above all, building trust. Until a community trusts us, we can\u2019t understand their social and cultural contexts, their needs, and we can\u2019t work effectively with them. In the WWF projects we worked on, it took four or five years for communities to feel like they could trust us and work with us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 302px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 438px; height: 306px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\/dsc_0814_crop_low\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"17732\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0814_crop_low.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1113\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Blue Ventures | Ruth Leeney&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0814_crop_low\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0814_crop_low-513x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0814_crop_low-695x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0814_crop_low-434x302.jpg\" width=\"434\" height=\"302\" align=\"left\" title=\"DSC_0814_crop_low\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 434px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 434\/302;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Training community members in Tanzania to collect their own data on octopus catches is an important part of the work Haji and Khamis support partners in doing. | Photo by Ruth Leeney, Blue Ventures<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 457px; height: 306px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/navigating-back-to-sustainability-perspectives-from-tanzania\/dsc_0810_crop_low\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"17728\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0810_crop_low.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Blue Ventures | Ruth Leeney&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0810_crop_low\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0810_crop_low-536x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0810_crop_low-725x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DSC_0810_crop_low-453x302.jpg\" width=\"453\" height=\"302\" align=\"left\" title=\"DSC_0810_crop_low\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 453px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 453\/302;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Photo by Ruth Leeney, Blue Ventures<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>RL: What motivates you to work in this field?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we want to see a movement towards co-management and towards communities acting as custodians of their marine resources, they need to be involved in every step of the process. To do that, there has to be a link between government and communities, as well as amongst communities, and that is where we come in. Without us, there\u2019s a missing link.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>RL:<\/em> <em>And why is this so important now? Why do communities need to be the custodians of their own resources?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>HM:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We can\u2019t expect a better future without preparing for it and working towards it now. Climate change, increasing populations and changes in marine ecosystems \u2013 all of these are having huge impacts so it\u2019s logical to assume that now is the best time. The longer we wait to act, the more we will have to do!<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communities have indigenous knowledge which needs to be tapped in order to scale-up fisheries management. That knowledge is very important to the management of shared resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through speaking with Khamis and Haji, their respect for coastal communities and commitment to improving livelihoods and ocean health was evident, and will continue to strengthen our work throughout East Africa in years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their message is clear: the process of engaging and training communities in fisheries management is slow but effective. It requires a lot of flexibility and exchange amongst stakeholders. Those involved in the day-to-day interactions with communities would welcome more flexible funding, which acknowledges that communities are not static entities, and that the way they interact with a management project can change over time. In turn, those leading the project need the freedom to adapt planned activities and adjust timescales to achieve goals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We now have an opportunity<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to merge traditional systems with the existing \u2018formal\u2019 system of management, to create a new, more inclusive approach that embraces the rich knowledge and cultures of communities, and the strengths of top-down management. This offers the potential to reinvigorate local traditions, while addressing the challenges communities in East Africa are facing. It also offers hope that, when community-based stewardship and local governance institutions join forces, coastal environments, fisheries and the people that rely on them will be able to navigate towards sustainability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An interview with Blue Ventures\u2019 partner support technicians in East Africa, Haji Machano and Khamis Juma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":17740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[467,338,468,669],"tags":[543,481,683],"class_list":["post-17715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-lmma","category-fisheries","category-zanzibar","tag-community-conservation","tag-supporting-partners","tag-temporary-fishery-closure"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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