The African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO)’s vision is making the coastal and aquatic environment of Africa a threat-free home for the African manatee and other marine wildlife, while taking into account the best interests of the local people. Our mission is to contribute to the protection of the aquatic megafauna species and their habitats in Central Africa by improving the scientific knowledge and involving fishermen and other stakeholders into sustainable fisheries and responsible watershed uses.
AMMCO strongly believes that there is not just hope for the forgotten aquatic megafauna species in Africa but that smart actions NOW will positively reverse their current conservation status. AMMCO is one of the few non-profit organizations dedicated to the conservation aquatic megafauna species in Africa.
Despite the complexity of research and conservation in the aquatic environment, specially in low-income countries, AMMCO has always remained positive and optimist by bringing innovative and technological solutions to marine conservation. For instance, we created the first African marine citizen science of fishermen who used our SIREN App to contribute to the knowledge of these poorly know species. The data collected has recently contributed to the upgrade of the legal conservation status of cetaceans in Cameroon and more people are aware of aquatic megafauna species in Cameroon as a result of our work. We hope to gain from ConservationNOW more visibility at a larger scale so we can replicate our success from Cameroon to other African countries.