TY - JOUR

T1 - Utilizing Marine Cultural Heritage for the Preservation of Coastal Systems in East Africa

AU - Holly, Georgia

AU - Rey da Silva, Arturo

AU - Henderson, Jon

AU - Bita, Caesar

AU - Forsythe, Wes

AU - Alexandre Ombre, Zacarias

AU - Poonian, Christopher

AU - Roberts, Hayley

PY - 2022/5/19

Y1 - 2022/5/19

N2 - This paper presents the key contributions of marine cultural heritage to the survival of coastal ecosystems and the communities that rely on them in East Africa. Marine cultural heritage (MCH) describes the evidence of past human interactions with coastal and marine space, encompassing tangible material culture remains and associated intangible cultural expressions withincoastal communities. By incorporating the protection of MCH into local and regional environmental frameworks, we gain an essential indicator to monitor change dynamics in natural habitats, the cumulative impacts of climate change, and the development of social adaptation strategies. An essential aspect of this development is the move away from global sustainability strategies towardscommunity-centric management and stewardship. Such processes utilise a combination of traditional knowledge systems and scientific approaches designed to harness targeted economic, ecological, and social sustainable development. To argue for the incorporation of MCH into local and regionalenvironmental frameworks in the area, this paper presents four case studies from the Rising from the Depths Network, a challenge-led research network focusing on harnessing the potential of MCH to bring sustainable development strategies to East Africa.

AB - This paper presents the key contributions of marine cultural heritage to the survival of coastal ecosystems and the communities that rely on them in East Africa. Marine cultural heritage (MCH) describes the evidence of past human interactions with coastal and marine space, encompassing tangible material culture remains and associated intangible cultural expressions withincoastal communities. By incorporating the protection of MCH into local and regional environmental frameworks, we gain an essential indicator to monitor change dynamics in natural habitats, the cumulative impacts of climate change, and the development of social adaptation strategies. An essential aspect of this development is the move away from global sustainability strategies towardscommunity-centric management and stewardship. Such processes utilise a combination of traditional knowledge systems and scientific approaches designed to harness targeted economic, ecological, and social sustainable development. To argue for the incorporation of MCH into local and regionalenvironmental frameworks in the area, this paper presents four case studies from the Rising from the Depths Network, a challenge-led research network focusing on harnessing the potential of MCH to bring sustainable development strategies to East Africa.

KW - marine cultural heritage

KW - Africa

KW - sustainable development

KW - climate change

KW - resilience

KW - traditional knowledge

KW - coastal systems

KW - biocultural heritage

M3 - Article

VL - 10

JO - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

JF - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

IS - 5

M1 - 693

ER -