Transcript Africa Seaweed Database Introduction

SeaweedAfrica
“Underpinning Sustainable
Ecosystem
Management of Seaweed
Resources in Africa: Expanding
the Seaweed Database”
European Partners
Ireland: Martin Ryan Institute, National University of
Ireland, Galway. Co-ordinator
Prof. Michael Guiry
Dr Róisín Nash
Sandy Lawson
Sweden: University of Stockholm
Dr Mats Björk & Karolina Bauer
Strong Links to the University of Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania
(Sware Semesi, Matern Moltera)
Portugal: CIIMAR
Prof. Isabel Sousa Pinto
Andreia Braga-Henriques
Two subcontractors
www.seaweedafrica.org
Subcontractors (via Portugal)
Mozambique: University of Eduardo Mondlane
Dr Salomão Bandeira
Henriques Jacinto Balidy
Brazil: University of São Paulo
Prof. Eurico Cabral De Oliveira Filho
www.seaweedafrica.org
African Partners
South Africa: University of the Western Cape
Prof. Derek Keats
Martin Cocks
Dr Neil Griffin
South Africa: University of Cape Town
Prof. John Bolton
Dr Rob Anderson (Marine and Coastal Management)
Dr AJ Smit & Dr Enrico Trochin
Kenya: IOI-East Africa
Mr Patrick Gwada
Namibia: University of Namibia
Mr Lineekela Kandjengo
Dr Alan Critchley (France)
www.seaweedafrica.org
Basic Facts

Funded through the INCO-DEV section of FP5

Duration of the project: Nov 2001 - Oct 2005

Funded to the sum of almost €1,000,000

6 partner countries (+ 2 subcontractor countries) involved

It is an expansion of AlgaeBase (One of the five largest biological
databases in the world) www.algaebase.org

AlgaeBase contains:

34,588 bibliographical references,
 2,314 common names,
 109,473 distributional records,
 17,657 etymological entries,
 5,785 genera,
 2,879 images,
 61,738 species
 (15th August 2005)
www.seaweedafrica.org
Basic Facts
•
•
Despite its enormous coastline and
burgeoning maritime populations,
Africa has not seen major
developments of a seaweed industry
except in Tanzania and South Africa,
and recently in Mozambique.
SeaweedAfrica is prioritizing the
entry of information from Africa
due to the relative inaccessibility of
knowledge of seaweeds form Africa
despite the incredible biodiversity
which is particularly high on the
east coast.
www.seaweedafrica.org
Basic Facts
•
In some areas, such as Namibia
and the west coast of South
Africa, upwelling of cold water
shows enormous potential for
maricultural development if the
right algae and management
techniques can be found.
Therefore one of the aims of SeaweedAfrica is
“To increase access to information on
seaweeds, allowing
‘best practice’
in sustainable seaweed farming”
SeaweedAfrica objectives
 To aid and accelerate seaweed aquaculture
through developing the seaweed database
to include information on:
•
•
•
•
•
Seaweed uses
Common names
Commercial usage – Aquaculture & Harvesting
Ecological data
Regulation and legislation information
In other words to assemble knowledge currently dispersed
particularly information that pertains to the development of an
African industry
Seaweed - diversity
Red
Rhodophyta
c. 6,000 species
Green
Chlorophyta
c. 12,000 species
Brown
Heterokontophyta
c.2,000 species
Constituents of Seaweeds

Vitamins

Fatty acids

Phenolic compounds

Sterols

Sugar alcohols

Lipids

Steroids

Acids

Amino acids

Alkaloids

Proteins

Amines

Peptides

Cellulose

Pigments

Enzymes

Phytohormones

Glycosides

Inorganic Constituents

Volatile Constituents

Antibacterial, Antibiotic, Antifungal
and Antiviral Substances

Toxic substance
An example of a search on the site for the uses
associated with Gracilaria gracilis
Front page as seen on the web
You can enter a search
for:
• Species name such as
Gracilaria gracilis
• Common name
• Country
• Ecological /
aquaculture or harvest
records
www.seaweedafrica.org
You will then be given a number of choices to search for further
information on this species e.g. uses and compounds highlighted in
red above. If you click on this link you will be provided with a list of
the seaweed’s uses and their associated compounds.
www.seaweedafrica.org
A list of uses and coumpounds found associated with Gracilaria
gracilis.
Further information can be found by clicking on the book icon on the
right hand side.
www.seaweedafrica.org
All information in SeaweedAfrica is
traceable back to a published
source.
An example of the Literature on Seaweed Uses
•
Chapman, V.J. & Chapman, D.J. (1980) Seaweeds and their
uses. Chapman and Hall London
•
Hoppe, H.A. & Levring, T. (1982) Marine algae in pharmaceutical
science. 309 pages Walter de Gruyter Berlin/New York
•
Lembi, C.A. & Waaland, J.R. (1988) Algae and human affairs. vii
+ 590 pages Cambridge University Press Cambridge
•
Levring, T., Hoppe, H.A. & Schmid, O.J. (1969) Marine algae. A
survey of research and utilization. [vii] + 421 pages Cram, De
Gruyter & Co. Hamburg
www.seaweedafrica.org
Potential of SeaweedAfrica
Resource distribution

Allows any country to identify what species
occur on their coast
Uses & potential uses of different species

Important for countries who wish to initiate a
seaweed utilisation strategy
Current Resource Yields

Scale of harvesting is unappreciated by many

Current information on yields will act as a
tool to illustrate the potential sustainable
exploitation that can be achieved
Resource distribution

Allows any country to identify what species
occur on their coast
www.seaweedafrica.org
Potential of SeaweedAfrica
Resource distribution

Allows any country to identify what species
occur on their coast
Uses & potential uses of different species

Important for countries who wish to initiate a
seaweed utilisation strategy
Current Resource Yields

Scale of harvesting is unappreciated by many

Current information on yields will act as a
tool to illustrate the potential sustainable
exploitation that can be achieved
www.seaweedafrica.org
Potential of SeaweedAfrica
Ecological Information

Information on life histories of commercial
species is vital

Preserving biodiversity

May provide a secondary crop

Information on associated species

To ensure maximum efficiency of
aquaculture initiatives

To facilitate ecological/acceptable
harvesting practices
Methods of cultivation & Harvesting

Help to amalgamate different methods to
produce the most appropriate technology
Regulation management

First point of contact – country

Legislation - country
www.seaweedafrica.org
Who will benefit?
• The expanded database aims to satisfy the needs of
policy makers wishing to initiate sustainable seaweed
production or effectively regulate already existing
seaweed production; whether that production be by
harvesting or aquaculture.
• Other groups that will benefit from the information
include universities, industry, government agencies,
multidisciplinary research institutions, libraries,
museums, non-governmental organisations and
interested individuals.
www.seaweedafrica.org