IUCN is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 18,000 experts. This diversity and vast expertise makes IUCN the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

Students were at the forefront of this initiative but once we were sure about the most successful restoration techniques, we contacted the community members, mostly women. The latter with the support of NGO KUWUKA and a social-scientist at UEM started engaging communities in deep refletions, sensitization and capacity assessment to engage in a voluntary work that would culminate being the best advocates of the seagrass restoration at Inhaca.

## Advocating for the human=ocean ecosystem Effective interactions between indigenous people and other stakeholders makes the difference in the success or failure of oceans conservation. Community struggles with development or conservation schemes, when seen only as economic or environmental issues, overlooks their impact on culture and on food sovereignty

Mission: to awaken the exercise of citizenship for transparent and participative governance of natural resources for sustainable development.