Tools

Deploy innovative approaches guiding public decision-making and regional initiatives

Capacity building

Train experts advising decision-makers

Involve Civil Society

by providing education about the environment and supporting multi-actor projects

DiDEM aims to test, validate and deploy innovative scientific mediation tools and methods in the Western Indian Ocean in support of regional initiatives dedicated to ocean governance.

It takes place in 8 countries of the Western Indian Ocean, which have ratified the Nairobi Convention:

• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Réunion - France
• Seychelles
• Tanzania
• Comoros

The program covers the Mozambique Channel, an area considered the second largest tropical marine biodiversity hotspot in the world after the coral triangle of Southeast Asia, and extending to areas beyond national jurisdictions east of Madagascar, which are home to numerous seamounts.

The geological stability of the continental coastlines and the hydrodynamic regime of the channel and its currents, make the coastal and pelagic ecosystems of this area rich and diverse. The channel is very productive and is characterized by a high degree of connectivity, which plays an essential role in maintaining this exceptional biodiversity.

This region, carrying vast economic and geostrategic interests in terms of mineral depostis, fisheries and maritime transport, is one of the most interesting and complex areas to study on a regional scale. It includes catchment areas of large rivers of continental States (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique) and those of a large island (Madagascar), and economic zones of small island States (Comoros, Seychelles, Maurice, La Réunion).