Category: Management

Management of the marine environment as a resource can be challenging, with many stakeholders involved. Scientists need to be able to advise policy makers to ensure the protection of the marine environment. Here, I want to highlight the importance of applied research collaborations between the government, industry and academia to promote responsible use of environmental resources. With increasing anthropogenic activities necessary, a goal is to be able to apply high quality research in practice and make sure seabed habitats are conserved, as well as allow sustainable use. This section will include informal interviews with scientists, policy makers and industry representatives, to get an idea of the conflicts and solutions in different countries.

Management

Mikono ya Wavuvi or “In Fishermen’s Hands”

This year at the Beneath the Waves Film Festival, the short film Mikono ya Wavuvi meaning “In Fishermen’s Hands” won the People’s Choice Award. “Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, and globally, millions of people depend on the resources they provide. In East Africa, along the coast of Kenya, fishing is often the only option for work, and as a result, communities are highly reliant on coral reefs for food and livelihood. This has resulted in increasingly degraded coral reefs, where very few fish remain and sea urchins take over. Consequently, some fishermen have identified a need for change. This has resulted in an exciting movement for the establishment of community-managed areas closed to fishing, locally called a “tengefu”, which is a Swahili term meaning “to set something aside“. This is a short film about marine conservation in Kenya and the struggle between fishermen saving the ocean or saving their livelihood.”

via Mikono ya Wavuvi (In Fishermen’s Hands) on Vimeo.

“The Beneath the Waves Film Festival aims to encourage, inspire, and educate scientists, advocates, and the general public to produce and promote open-access, engaging marine-issue documentaries. The goal is to facilitate widespread science communication by bringing together marine films from around the world for open discussion, while also providing hands-on educational opportunities for researchers interested in film and media outreach.”

via Beneath The Waves Film Festival.

Further Links

Mikono ya Wavuvi Facebook page

Beneath the Waves Facebook page

Management

The Wadden Sea- a World Heritage

The Fleur de Passion is navigating in the Wadden Sea. The goal of the Changing Oceans Expedition is to gather information on best practices of these marine protected areas, which have been classified world heritage by the UNESCO in June 2009. This will complete the information gathered earlier in the expedition and will help to develop a global strategy for decreasing the impact of human activities on the oceans. Learn more about the Changing Oceans expedition at their website.

Management

Is the Earth in need of a good lawyer?

British earth lawyer Polly Higgins discusses whether the Earth is in need of a good lawyer and whether ecocide, the extensive damage, destruction or loss of an ecosystem, should be considered a crime. The concept of creating an international crime of ecocide has actually been around since the 1970s. Although this seems like a radical idea at first, Polly Higgins argues widespread destruction of the environment is leading to resource depletion, which leads to conflict, which can then lead to war, which of course leads to more damage and destruction and more resource depletion.

Ecocide is already considered a national crime in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Vietnam. Further discussion about her argument can be found in a UK newspaper article  and the eradicating ecocide campaign. The Guardian newspaper also lists the top 10 ecocides in pictures.

Management

Coastlines and Culture in Brazil: Abrolhos Seascape

Conservation International’s (CI) video about their work in the Abrolhos Seascape. Field Chronicles is a series where each episode showcases successful CI programs. This episode presents CI’s work in expanding marine protected areas in Abrolhos, Brazil, home of the greatest concentration of marine life in the South Atlantic. The focus is on the extreme challenges CI’s marine team faced, and how they overcame them through community involvement and amplification. This episode also is a good example of CI’s new mission in action as promoting green economies is key to the CI team’s strategy. Also featured is the discovery of the largest rhodolith beds in the world- an area the size of El Salvador!

Management

Mapping the deep project

This short video explains the Mapping the Deep project at Plymouth University. Mapping the Deep is also part of the UK’s Marine Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP), which aims to achieve common, national objectives in seafloor and shallow geological mapping addressing themes such as habitat mapping, Quaternary science, coastal and shelf sediment dynamics and the assessment of human impacts and geohazards in the marine environment.