Social Science Research
People and marine resources
The SDG Narrative - Mariam and Hamisi
Note: In the following narrative, {curly brackets} link each part of the narrative with the adjacent image, while the text and icons in the image link to each SDG
{1} Mariam and Hamisi live from the sea. He catches fish, which she sells 3–4 days a week in the local markets, their combined income paying for school fees, their health needs, repairing their house, etc. This evokes a number of the goals—from fish catch and their jobs and income, and the benefits to their household through nutrition, income, health, and gender roles.
{2} Their livelihood is entirely dependent on the local reef, which also sustains the broader fishing community. Through its representative fisher association,
{3} the community has co-management responsibilities with the local government to manage its members’ fishing activity, including by establishing closed areas to enable reproduction and regeneration of fish stocks.
{4} The closed areas attract interest from the local tourism sector, which is growing with coastal intensification and small-town development, bringing additional income into the local community and diversified jobs for local tourism operators, shopkeepers, and others. As interest in marine biodiversity and development impacts increases
{5}, a range of community groups, non-government organizations and even researchers, engage with local issues to maintain natural assets and support diverse social programmes. Having gone to college
{6}, Mariam and Hamisi’s daughter not only works in the town as an electrician but invests in a cold-store business to link her family and other fisher households to local markets.
{7} The seascape is experiencing impacts from climate change, with the coral reefs bleaching and losing coral twice in the last decade, stimulating local leaders to lobby the government for climate action and commitment to the Paris Agreement. Conscious of the international travel that brings tourists, the business association puts in place varied climate mitigation and adaptation actions, including through replanting of coastal forests and mangroves, and committing to solar and other renewable energy technologies.
{8} As stakeholders in the land- and seascape engage, the local government authorities establish platforms to facilitate broader participation and engagement, incentivising individual actions towards sustainability, and removing barriers to innovation and action. To ensure all interests are addressed, firm commitments to equity are made
{9} across income and stakeholder groups, for women, children and vulnerable groups