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Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)

Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)[1] is a regional professional, non-governmental, non-profit, membership organization, registered in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The organization is dedicated to promoting the educational, scientific and technological development of all aspects of marine sciences throughout the region of Western Indian Ocean (Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion(France)), with a view toward sustaining the use and conservation of its marine resources. The Association has about 1000 individual members as well as about 50 institutional members from within and outside the region.WIOMSA Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, Febuary 18 2015

The organization's inter-disciplinary memberships consist of

1. supports marine research by offering research grants;

1. implements
   coastal management practitioners
   ;

1. works to promote policy dialogue on key topics by organizing meetings and seminars on the findings and policy implications of science.

WIOMSA[2] promotes

In the past two decades, the Western Indian Ocean (WIO)[6] region has seen a significant increase in

The strategic objective and priorities of WIOMSA [15] are:

1. Fostering research excellence through facilitating the
   scientists
   in all relevant disciplines;

1. Developing expertise for effective
   sustainable
   development;

1. Raising public awareness and enhancing access to relevant knowledge and information;

1. Promoting
   communities
   ; and

1. Promoting and
   policies and practices
   .

Based on these priorities, WIOMSA[16] work initially emphasised on three programme areas i.e. scientific research, capacity building and communication & extension; and more focus recently on capacity development, information dissemination, partnerships and networking. In this regard, WIOMSA’s[17] activities fall within five broad programmatic areas:

• Capacity Development.

overall goal of the Association’s capacity development programme is to develop technical and managerial capacity as well as professionalism, and build the capability of scientists and practitioners to meet the existing and future challenges of coastal and marine management in the WIO[18] region and beyond. WIOMSA[19] and its partners have been at the forefront of initiating innovative and pioneering capacity building programmes, which have often been replicated in other regions. The capacity development programme includes short and long-term training courses, development and dissemination of training materials and tools, and the provision of technical support to organizations e.g. recent international training course in mangrove ecosystems (http://inweh.unu.edu/mangrove-wio-region/), . Through its Marine and Coastal Science for Management (MASMA)[20] Programme, WIOMSA[21] has supported experts from the region to pursue MSc and PhD degrees, while the Marine Research Grants (MARG)[22] Program has provided partial support to individuals registered at universities within the region to enable travel for research purposes.

• Scientific Research.

WIOMSA[23] uses two competitive grant programmes, MASMA[24] and the MARG[25] as mechanisms to address priority issues, improving research quality and developing research capacity in all relevant disciplines. MASMA[26] is designed to support regional research activities as well as organisation of training courses/workshop and publication of books/manuals.

There are two competitive research grants under the MASMA[27] Programme, the ‘Open’ Competitive research grant programme which covers any topic within the priority themes as suggested by applicants, and the ‘Commissioned’ Competitive research grant programme which covers specific topics that emerge as critical during the course of the Programme. Ideas for ‘Commissioned’ grants come from the Programme Committee.

MARG[28] aims at providing young and upcoming scientists with a reliable and flexible mechanism to turn their ideas into research projects and also offers opportunity for presentation of research results at various regional and international fora. There are three types of MARG grants, MARG I (research), MARG II (travel to laboratories outside your country for data analysis) and MARG III (travel grant to attend conferences).

• Information dissemination and Communication.

WIOMSA[33] promotes

WIOMSA[34] provides opportunities through its activities for networking amongst researchers and between