Blue Africa
Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Coastal and Marine Ecosystems for Climate, Biodiversity, and People
Despite their critical role in regulating climate, sustaining biodiversity, and supporting livelihoods, Africa’s marine ecosystems remain poorly represented in climate and biodiversity policy. This is partly due to a significant lack of easily accessible and publicly available data specific to Africa, reflecting limited data infrastructure, fragmented research networks, and insufficient long-term coordination mechanisms at the continental scale rather than lack of data itself. Yet, at the same time, Africa is rapidly emerging as a focal region for blue carbon investments, underscoring the urgent need for robust, accessible, and policy-relevant scientific evidence to guide sustainable action.
The Blue Africa synthesis project seeks to address this challenge by improving the visibility, accessibility, and integration of African coastal and marine data. Building on and linking existing African synthesis efforts, Blue Africa works to downscale global habitat, biological and socio-economic datasets with regional data and expert-based knowledge to generate refined, Africa-specific products. These include improved continental-scale maps of ecosystem extent, functionality and associated biodiversity, as well as assessments of carbon storage potential and the socio-economic benefits, such as food security and livelihoods, provided by coastal and marine ecosystems.
Through a pan-African network of scientists and stakeholders, the project aims to strengthen knowledge co-production and ensure that blue carbon initiatives and conservation strategies are grounded in African expertise, aligned with regional priorities, and designed to enhance long-term ecosystem resilience and community well-being.
| Project Team Leads | ||
| Laura Pereira University of Witwatersrand | ||
| Mike Olendo Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED) | ||
| Ibukun Adewumi The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO/IOC) | ||
| Clea Abello University of Cape Town [Post-Doc] |
Contributing Members
Mediterranean:
- Abulghani Abulghani – Omar Al-Mukhtar University
- Randa Mejri – University of Sfax
West Africa:
- Yago Amemou – Université Polytechnique de San Pedro
- Olusola Adeoye – Coast2Deep – Sea Initiative, Nature Cares Resource Centre
- Edem Mahu – University of Ghana
- Emanuel Klubi – University of Ghana
- Alvin Jueseah – University of Liberia
- Samuel Akande – Federal University of Technology, Akure
East Africa:
- James Kairo – Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI)
- David Obura – CORDIO East Africa
- Stephanie D’Agata – Entropie/French National Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD)
- Maina Mbui – Macquarie University
- Salomao Bandeira – Eduardo Mondlane University
- Blandina Lugendo – University of Dar es Salaam
- Denise Nicolau – International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
South Africa:
- Kerry Sink – South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
- Nelisiwe Hambile – South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
- Loyiso Dunga – South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
- Anusha Rajkaran – University of the Western Cape
- Tommy Bornman – South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
- Amanda Radebe – University of Witwatersrand
- Lynne Shannon – University of Cape Town
- Kelly Ortega-Cisneros – University of Cape Town
- AJ Smit – University of the Western Cape
- Jordan van Stavel – South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI)
- Juliette Hermes – South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
- Odirilwe Selomane – University of Pretoria
- Kim Zoeller – Stellenbosch University
- Maggie Reddy – University of Galway & University of Cape Town
Global/Regional:
- Lissa Karanja – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO/IOC)
- John Ndarathi – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO/IOC)
- Rashid Sumaila – University of British Columbia & University of Pretoria
- Joachim Claudet – CRIOBE/National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
- Juliette Jacquemont – University of California, Santa Barbara
- Christina Hicks – Lancaster University
- Jean-Baptiste Jouffray – Stanford Centre for Ocean Solutions
BAOBAB synthesis research teams are supported through the BAOBAB project, which is jointly funded by UK aid through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands as part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) research programme and Step Change initiative.
