STUDY AREA

Cabo Verde is an archipelago located in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic. The country is considered a small island developing state and it is a member of the Cotonou partnership with the EU. The archipelago is composed of 10 islands and 8 minor islets with a tropical climate. 

The territory is naturally fragmented and isolated from permanent continental influences and possesses a rich biodiversity, normally characterized by diverse populations despite their low abundance. Besides its rich marine biodiversity (hotspot for turtles, sharks, fishes and coastal reefs), Cabo Verde also possesses high numbers of endemic species in the context of the Macaronesian region. This is thought to be due to the combination of its tropical environment, preventing these islands from large sea-surface temperature variations and its biogeographical isolation from the western African shores, mainly due to the presence of the NW African Upwelling. 

With COAST we propose to focus our study on the island of Santo Antão.

It is the westernmost island of the archipelago being highly vulnerable to extreme natural phenomena. Like for the rest of the country, the ocean and its coastal zones support most of the country’s economy. Fisheries and agriculture are the main industries on the island, but there is a growing increase in tourism (hiking, trekking, diving, culture). Baseline knowledge of the systems characteristics, habitats and resources mapping, and a better understanding of their functional properties, is fundamental to the development and implementation of effective conservation or restoration measures.