The GBIF funded project:
The forgotten African Islands - Addressing the gap in freshwater biodiversity knowledge for the Indian Ocean Islands
is headed by Miasa Eustache from the ISSEDD (University of Toamasina, Madagascar) and partnered with GroundTruth (South Africa) and has the main aim to digitise and mobilse existing data on EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) and diatoms from the Indian Ocean Islands (IOI), which are known for their unique biodiversity and high levels of endemism. Madagascan specimens exist in a number of institutions around the world and in some cases have not been captured/digitised. More info on the project can be found here.
A small workshop, AFRESH.IO, took place from the 16 – 20 July 2018 at the Tsimbazaza Biodiversity Centre in Antananarivo. Twenty-two delegates met to discuss and identify priority areas in freshwater in the IOI, with focus on developing a biomonitoring protocol using freshwater macroinvertebrates, including tools that can be used by citizen scientists and school groups. New members were welcomed into the AFRESH network, which included Malagasy students from ISSEDD and the university of Antananarivo, while a few delegates that attended AFRESH1 were involved in organising and assisting with AFRESH.IO.