The Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) was created from the Marine Research Division of the Federal Department of Fisheries by the Research Institutes Establishment Order on 1st November, 1975. NIOMR is Nigeria’s leading institution in marine research with the capacity for investigating physical processes and associated chemical changes and characteristics of the ocean. The institution’s mission is to contribute to the understanding of our ocean, the global ocean and the marine environment as a whole for the sustainable management of the resources and the environment. Various scientific research activities are being undertaken in ocean and marine science include fisheries, fish utilization, fishing technology, physical, chemical geological/geophysical, biological oceanography and aquaculture. NIOMR will provide support to development of coastal vulnerability indices, and monitoring and forecasting ocean conditions.
Institut National de Développement des Pêches (INDP) in Cape Verde was established in 1992. It has the mandate to provide socio-economic and scientific advice on the utilization of resources in coastal and marine ecosystems and capacity to deploy and maintain buoys. INDP has had collaboration with many institutions, many of which have been devoted to research and public service activities. INDP was one of the institutions which collaborated in the AMESD and MESA Projects, and thus has some institutional and technical capacity to use EO data for fisheries management and modeling of ocean currents. The institution will support maintenance of a waverider buoy acquired under the MESA project and disseminate the data for validating ocean condition forecasting.
The Centre for Oceanographic Research of Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT) is the department responsible for fisheries research in the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA). The primary mission of the Center for Oceanographic Research of Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT) is to provide to the fisheries authorities, scientific advice regarding sustainable developments, from knowledge and analyzes biological, socioeconomic, and environmental influences on dynamic resource. CRODT will support consolidation of the PFZ services in the region as done under the MESA project.
The Ghana Meteorological Agency (G-Met) is the sole government agency in Ghana to handle meteorological meteorological information to end users. Located in Accra, it has a network of monitoring stations covering all the ten regions of Ghana. G-Met provides efficient and reliable meteorological information by collecting, processing, archiving, analysing and dissemination of findings/meteorological information to end users. Among some of G-Met activities include providing daily weather forecast for Ghana to support aviation and maritime operations. G-Met also operates meteorological radar capable of covering the entire Exclusive Economic Zone of Ghana. GMet institution will coordinate with national meteorological agencies in the region to forecast ocean conditions to local fishers via SMS messaging.
Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Bénin, (IRHOB) is a public research institution under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Benin. It coordinated a regional programme for capacity building in physical oceanography and a partner in the PIRATA (Pilot International Research Array in the Tropical Atlantic) program. IRHOB was an associate institution under the MESA project and will support consolidation of monitoring physical conditions, and development of Coastal Vulnerability Indices.
Centre Universitaire de Recherche d'Application en Télédétection (CURAT) is a remote sensing applications centre at Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny supporting capacity building at the tertiary level and development of EO products through research and development. The Centre will be the main academic institution, besides University of Ghana, to support capacity building and online distance learning. It will also help consolidate monitoring of biological oceanographic parameters and development of products for mapping coastal ecosystems.
Wetlands International Africa (WIA) is a not-for-profit regional organization which supports the protection of mangrove, wetland and aquatic habitats, and conservation of biodiversity. WIA is already monitoring mangroves in six beneficiary countries (i.e. Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone). Their expertise in coastal ecosystem mapping will benefit other members of the consortium.