First Islamic Conservation Guide launched - to help Muslim fishermen protect their seas

	IFEES has launched the world's first Islamic convservation guide.

The world's first Islamic conservation guide has been launched in Zanzibar by the UK-based Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES) and the Directorate of Fisheries in Zanzibar.

The pioneering instruction manual, written and published by IFEES, uses lessons from the Qur'an to show how vital fishing resources can be protected.

Launched on 29th February 2008 in Weshe on the island of Pemba, the manual is part of a project to protect the Misali conservation area, where fishing provides direct livelihood for 11,000 people, and which has until recently been threatened by unsustainable practices including dynamite fishing.

The island's growing population also faces other challenges - common to many traditional communities - like depleting resources and the threat of industrial development.

The Islamic environmental education programme devised by IFEES works by bringing members of the fishing community together with local institutions, government officials and religious leaders in an effort to promote sustainable practices - especially within the designated conservation zone.

	Misali Island is a small uninhabited area near Pemba island in Tanzania

Founder and director of IFEES, Fazlun Khalid said, “This is a really exciting project, and the first of its kind. At a time when the Shariah is being misunderstood in some parts of the world it is good to demonstrate how it can contribute to protecting the environment. I hope this will be the first of many projects that use the Qur'an to promote conservation.”

The programme has also been developed with CARE International, Zanzibar, and is part of a series of initiatives to protect the Misali Island Marine Conservation Area and the nearby Ngezi Forest through extending savings and credit schemes; promotion of eco-tourism; and investigating how religious ethics can be explored in order to improve conservation awareness within communities.

Misali is characterised by remarkable species diversity. about 350 fish species and 40 genera of hard corals have been recorded in the area, while the square kilometer of the island itself supports endangered nesting turtles, green monkeys, endangered and endemic Pemba Flying Foxes, globally endangered coconut crabs and various species of rare birds.

notes from the field... a report from IFEES

	Misali Island is a small uninhabited area near Pemba island in Tanzania