Canaan, Flecheiras and Mundau are small villages surrounded by sand dunes, estuaries and coastal reef platforms. The diversity and uniqueness of this ecosystem have provided these communities with a privileged life-style, where fishing and agriculture are the main sources of economy. However, human impacts have drastically been changing the ecological aspects of the local fauna and flora, especially in the estuarine-reef complex. In this project we aim to evaluate ecological components of the estuary and the reef by using the community to carry out data collection, supervised by researchers.

The main focus will be given to the fish assemblages inhabiting the estuary and the reef platforms and, more specifically, to the population of the long-snout seahorse, once abundant among mangrove roots of the estuary. Fishermen and the public school will conduct fieldwork to evaluate the aspects of fish assemblage and the current abiotic aspects of the water along the estuary and its outflow. We, therefore, are combining the local knowledge and the scientific input to help these communities to look after their environment. With this project, we are proposing a conservation plan to the Estuary of the Mundau River and its reef complex, where the economical source of the locals depend upon, and where endangered species are in serious threat of extinction.