RESCOPAR Programme summary
The Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF) of Wageningen University supports problem oriented research programs conducted by groups of PhD students on development related priorities of countries in the South. Funded by INREF, the RESCOPAR program is a co-operation between several research teams at Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Can Tho University (Vietnam), Mulawarman University and WWF (all Indonesia), and NACA (Thailand) to study the resilience of coastal populations and aquatic resources, with an emphasis on mangrove ecosystems, shrimp culture and associated diseases and coastal fisheries. The long-term objective of the program is to propose and evaluate management activities (intensity and spatial configuration) that optimise the sustainable production of both coastal fisheries and shrimp production in mangrove forested natural resources. To do so the program also studies the way decision making processes at different socio-political and spatial scales affect the use, management and conservation of coastal living resources. To realise these objectives the project started with funds for 9 PhD-projects and 1 MSc scholarships.
I am one of the phD students from Rescopar - my project dealing with " Spatial spread and virulence development of white spot syndrome virus in cultured shrimp"