The University of Cape Coast and the Technical University of Denmark are jointly organising a virtual workshop to share research outcomes of the HOTSPOTS Project. This is a DANIDA-funded project with an overarching aim to contribute to the development of monitoring, management and legislation of marine and maritime pollution in the Gulf of Guinea. The Project was implemented over the last 3 years and comes to a close in 2020. As part of its closeout, the Project team seek to engage key stakeholders on the outcomes and opportunities for long term management of the Gulf of Guinea area.
Date: 16th December, 2020
Time: 09:00 - 17:00 GMT
Venue: Zoom Meeting
About the HOTSPOT Project
Gulf of Guinea is a hotspot of multiple stressors such as marine and maritime pollution, climate change and overexploitation of aquatic resources. Nevertheless, we know very little of the effects of these stressors on tropical marine environment. This lack of knowledge hampers the efforts for sustainable management. Coastal marine ecosystems worldwide are threatened by multiple human-induced stressors, ranging from global stressors such as climate change, to local pollution, habitat loss and over-exploitation of resources. This results in fast degradation of coastal ecosystems and the services that they provide. The consequences of this environmental degradation are potentially catastrophic – both for the diversity of marine life and for the millions of people who depend on marine resources for their livelihood. Regaining and maintaining a good environmental status requires efficient management of different activities which influence the oceans – which is a great challenge considering the number and diversity of threats, and the different vulnerabilities of ecosystems.
Objectives of the HOTSPOT project
The overall aim of the HOTSPOT project is to contribute to the development of monitoring, management and legislation of marine and maritime pollution in the Gulf of Guinea.
The main objectives of the HOTSPOT project are:
Identification of sources
- To identify the main sources of heavy metals, oil compounds and marine litter (including microplastics).
- To evaluate the importance of maritime activities compared to land-based sources, as pollutant of the marine environment in the coast of Ghana.
Mapping of the effects
- To estimate the effects of key contaminants on the survival, metabolism and production of organisms at different trophic levels, alone and in combination with other contaminants or with increasing temperature.
- To quantify the bioaccumulation of key contaminants in the different levels of the food web.
Improving management
- To identify the most harmful forms of maritime pollution and the most sensitive areas and seasons in terms of ecological effects.
- To recommend the actions to mitigate pollution and to protect the marine areas.
Building of competences and public awareness
- To establish new research collaboration between Denmark and Ghana.
- To enhance the research capacity of PhD and graduate students and junior staff.
- To improve the skills and competences of the professionals working in maritime environment.
- To communicate the importance of management actions to local and national decision-makers and the public.
Read more about the HOTSPOT Project at https://www.hotspot-ghana.net