Jimmiel Mandima

Zambezi Heartland Director
Kariba, Zimbabwe

 

There’s something fishy about Jimmiel – and that’s a good thing. Jimmiel is the first aquatic ecologist to join the AWF team and was instrumental in leading a multi-national working group that worked on shared water resource management on the Zambezi River, the lifeline of the Zambezi Heartland. He holds a Masters degree in Fisheries Management from the University of Kuopio in Finland and joined AWF in 2002 from the University of Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba Research Station where he had worked as a research fellow since 1992.

Jimmiel has been awarded a partial fellowship to finalize his PhD in Fisheries Ecology that he had earlier started at the University of Zimbabwe. He will complete his studies at the University of Limpopo in South Africa; his research will focus on the offshore pelagic fishery for the freshwater sardine, Limnothrissa miodon, an introduced species, which has created a big commercial industry on both Lake Kariba (shared by Zambia & Zimbabwe) and Cahora Bassa (in Mozambique). This knowledge from the study should inform adaptive management decisions with regard to regulating entry into the fishery, designating allowable fishing zones; and in that way allow for sustainable use of the resource which will result in improved entrepreneurial developments in these countries. This is in line with AWF’s goal in the Zambezi Heartland where it seeks to guide management interventions for aquatic resources on the basis of good scientific knowledge.

Learn more about the transboundary aspect of Jimmiel's Zambezi Heartland.