Blue Africa
Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Coastal and Marine Ecosystems for Climate, Biodiversity, and People

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.

BLUE AFRICA  – Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Marine Ecosystems for Climate, Biodiversity, and People

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….

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

Contributing Members

Mediterranean:

Abulghani Abulghani
Omar Al-Mukhtar University

Randa Mejri – 
University of Sfax

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