On 22nd of April the world has celebrated the Earth day. This was an opportunity to highlight all the dangers our planet is running as well as an occasion to make the population think about all the solutions that could be implemented to save the planet and humanity.
In fact many projects have been implemented over the years involving institutions, the public sector and national organizations which joined their efforts to save our mother earth.
The Italian cooperation has always been one of the leaders in this field, and one of its recent projects is NEMO KANTARA [1].
Since its creation, in fact, CIHEAM Bari has worked for the protection of the environment through sustainable development projects such as NEMO KANTARA, an inclusive project for rural and coastal areas and local communities aiming to build a fair world that respects the environment without forgetting those who live in close contact with the natural environment: farmers and fishermen.
Nowadays climate change represents the greatest challenge for the future of mankind and the survival systems that make our world habitable. NEMO KANTARA project staff believe that the current health emergency should not make us forget the climate crisis that hangs over future generations with even more dramatic social and economic impacts.
Unfortunately, in recent years, climate change has favored the colonization of a new species in Tunisia: the blue crab. For fishermen the blue crab presents a threat; the voracity of this invasive species has exacerbated the economic difficulties of fishermen since the crabs devour the good fish (sea bream, wolf, mullet) and shear the nets. However, the long-feared blue crab has now become, thanks to the resilience of # la_pêche_artisanale, an incredible resource capable of fueling a whole new industry. The NEMO KANTARA CIHEAM Bari project supports, through various activities, local initiatives which aim to promote this new industry, allowing small-scale and artisanal fishermen – who were the first to react to this threat – to remain key players in this new industry. Fishermen’s associations and groups of farmers, GDAP, cannot only be raw material suppliers but also part of the transformation transition. This is why the NEMO KANTARA project invests in training and infrastructure to help artisanal fisheries to be competitive and benefit from the new opportunities that arise from processing.
This places NEMO KANTARA among the most important sister projects to WATERMEDYIN, as they fight together to empower and support the blue economy; in addition, through WATERMEDYIN project, NEMO KANTARA will be supported by innovative startups that can help reduce and heal the effect of the blue crab threat to the Mediterranean sea in Tunisia and support small-scale fishermen.
Happy earth day to all humanity from the whole WATERMEDYIN project team!
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