Project 2 – Mobilising researchers around natural capital

university-maurice university-mascareigne
  • Visuel_Nat Cap
  • Ilots_Moheli

The “Natural Capital” project is implemented jointly by the Universities of Mascarene and Mauritius. The University of Mascarene is a Mauritian public university founded in 2012. It provides training in the fields of sustainable development and engineering, trade, and information and communication technologies.

The University of Mauritius was founded in 1965 and is the oldest public university in Mauritius. It hosts over 12,000 students in seven faculties.

 

The project

The development of a network of academic actors on natural capital and ecosystem services will be supported by the Universities of Mascarene and Mauritius. They are jointly structuring research programmes dedicated to natural capital and ecosystem services. Varuna should facilitate the creation and dissemination of knowledge on these issues in the region.

Areas of intervention: Union of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, France, Seychelles

Partners:

  • CAP Business Indian Ocean
  • Remote Sensing and Environmental Geophysics Laboratory (RSEGL – Madagascar)
  • Regional herbariums : Madagascar, Union of the Comoros, La Réunion, Seychelles, Mauritius, and  Mayotte herbarium (recently created);
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), national GBIF focal points (France : Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Madagascar : Centre National de Recherches sur l’Environnement )

Activities:

  • Development and updating of training modules on “Protection, restoration and conservation of biodiversity” and “Natural capital” for academics, public and private agents and NGOs/CSOs
  • Financing and support of 5 thesis and 4 Masters on the protection, conservation and restoration of biodiversity, and on the accounting of natural capital with the publication of scientific articles and communications for the general public
  • Herbarium staff trained to digitise specimens and other resources [e.g. maps, documents, photos, manuscripts] and maintain standardised data online, accessible and discoverable
  • Development of policy briefs that integrate biodiversity/ecology/conservation issues; organisation of policy briefings, and presentation of results at the next COP on Biodiversity