Project Summary
Countries: Mexico
Delivery Partner: University of Leeds
Project Partners: SCPP ACUICOLA LA ENSENADA S.C. DE R.L. DE C.V, Comision Nacional Forestal, Municipio de Angostura, Universidad Politécnica del Valle del Évora, CAREY COSTA AZUL, S.C. de R.L. de C.V.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alan Javier Hernandez Alvarez, Lecturer in Nutrition and Global Health, University of Leeds
Challenge
Sinaloa’s shrimp farms (SF) have decimated ecosystems, deepened social inequality, and degraded local livelihoods. Driven by community needs, AquaRoots pilots a sustainable shrimp silvoaquaculture system (SSSS) in Mexico, integrating microecosystem (μES) management and biodiversity-based solutions for eco-social and economic resilience.
A demonstration site will showcase how μES-enhancing species reduce the negative impacts of SF on the environment. By bridging the nutritionalsensory gap between farmed and wild-caught shrimp, AquaRoots will simultaneously increase the productivity, lower μES-farmer expenses, and open market access. AquaRoots will use citizen science to empower vulnerable stakeholders in democratically generating biodiversity data for real-time impact evaluation.
AquaRoots links “ejidos” to the blue carbon market via mangrove carbon sequestration, ensuring shared communal benefits for collective landholders. By minimising chemical and organic matter discharge through its SSSS, AquaRoots enhances coastal ecosystem health and bolsters wild fishery people, which directly supports local fishing families and cooperatives. AquaRoots aims to pioneer and demonstrate a sustainable, biodiversity-driven shrimp farming system, establishing a regenerative model that ensures long-term environmental, economic, and social benefits, and developing a globally applicable model.
All Photo Credits to Dr Oscar Abel Sánchez Velázquez, AquaRoots team.
More on the project will be added soon.
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