by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 9, 2026 | Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Tuesday, September 29, 11 am US EDT/8 am US PDT/3 pm UTC/4 pm BST/5 pm CEST. Presented by: Amdeep Sanghera and Emily Bunce of Marine Conservation Society, UK. Description: For marine conservation initiatives to be effective and ethical, it is crucial that the views and ideas of local communities and resource users be represented in decision making. Community Voice Method (CVM) is a holistic and inclusive way of stimulating more meaningful and equitable community engagement in natural resource policy development, decision-making and management. Engaging with community members in a way that seeks their views and encourages discussion on marine issues, CVM combines arts-based social research with best practice in stakeholder engagement to deliver insights and conversations which can support positive, constructive, and enduring relationships and improved outcomes for people and nature. This webinar will present an overview of this film-based transdisciplinary approach, its origin, its application within the context of the UK and the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories, and its impact on people and nature. In addition, the webinar will feature an existing project in the Turks and Caicos where significant resources are being applied to the upskilling of local partners on the method, reducing the territory’s reliance on external researchers and resulting in a more locally-led project.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 9, 2026 | Uncategorized, Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Wednesday, September 30, at 0400 UTC. Presented by: Dr. Rohani Ambo Rappe of Hasanuddin University and Dr. Jennifer Verduin of Murdoch University. Description: Seagrass meadows are vital to food security, livelihoods, and coastal resilience across the Indo-Pacific. They provide gleaning and small-scale fishing opportunities for the region’s most food-insecure households, as well as essential habitat for commercial fisheries. They also protect coastal communities by reducing wave energy and erosion, buffering storm surges, stabilizing sediments, and filtering pollutants, pathogens, and excess nutrients to improve water quality. Greater Southeast Asian has the largest global extent of tropical seagrass, but over half is degraded. Restoration projects are underway across the region, with varying degrees of success. A recent synthesis of this work identified several factors—including species, restoration methods, light levels, wave energy, and water depth—that are associated with greater survival and establishment of restored seagrass. In this webinar seagrass restoration experts Dr. Rohani Ambo-Rappe and Dr. Jennifer Verduin will share lessons from two of the most extensive and well-studied seagrass restoration programs in the region, including: 1) The use of simple, low-cost restoration methods in the Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2) Work to replant foundational seagrass species in partnership with Indigenous traditional owners in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The presenters will discuss why seagrass loss occurred, describe the restoration approaches used and their successes and challenges, and share lessons learned about what works, what doesn’t, and why. The webinar will conclude with a live Q&A, providing attendees an opportunity to ask the presenters questions.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 9, 2026 | Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Thursday, October 8, Noon US EDT/9 am US PDT/4 pm UTC/5 pm BST/6 pm CEST. Presented by: Klaudija Cremers, Julien Rochette, and Alexandra Oliveira Pinto of IDDRI. Description: The credibility of future high seas marine protected areas (HSMPAs) established under the BBNJ Agreement will depend on their effective implementation and enforcement. Experiences from existing MPAs and high seas governance show that monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) is a decisive factor for compliance and enforcement. While the remoteness of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) poses major challenges, recent technological advances offer practical, scalable and cost-effective solutions, provided they are embedded in a broader compliance strategy. States and coalitions championing HSMPAs should therefore integrate a site-specific compliance strategy that includes MCS activities into their proposal from the outset, combining emerging technologies with complementary policy, legal, technical and cooperation measures. Over the past two years, IDDRI has conducted extensive research on MCS tools and services, including through interviews and expert consultations. This work resulted in a Guide that aims to support States and stakeholders in integrating MCS considerations into HSMPA proposals. This webinar will present the key findings of this work.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 9, 2026 | Uncategorized, Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Tuesday, October 20, Noon US EDT/9 am US PDT/4 pm UTC/5 pm BST/6 pm CEST. Presented by: Beth Pike, Jessica MacCarthy, and Nikki Harasta of the Marine Conservation Institute. Description: The Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas) is the leading resource for marine protected area (MPA) effectiveness tracking and reporting. The MPAtlas team is building a comprehensive global database of MPA assessments using The MPA Guide, a science-based framework that evaluates an MPA across two dimensions: Stage of Establishment (its status in the process of becoming an MPA) and Level of Protection (how well it is protected from the impact of human activities). With nearly 17,000 officially reported MPAs, growing the database requires the expertise of scientists and practitioners across the globe. To facilitate data collection, the MPAtlas team recently launched the new MPAtlas Assessment Portal, a data entry portal that allows users to complete MPA Guide assessments and submit additional data to existing assessments to help grow the MPAtlas database. Join the MPAtlas team on this webinar to learn more about the purpose, utility, and functionality of the new data portal, including a brief tour of the portal and tips on how to register and get started.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 2, 2026 | Past Webinars, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Presented by: David Carrasco Rivera of the University of Queensland and Amelia Wenger of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Description: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are central to global efforts to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. Yet emerging evidence indicates that nearly three-quarters of MPAs are exposed to sewage pollution, with typical pollution levels inside protected areas often substantially higher than in surrounding unprotected waters. Drawing on a global assessment of more than 16,000 MPAs – including detailed analysis of 1,855 tropical coastal MPAs across six regions – this webinar examines patterns of total nitrogen exposure from wastewater and the implications for coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests associated with these MPAs. Results reveal marked regional disparities with the highest pollution loads in parts of East Africa and the Middle East and North Africa – underscoring the need for context-specific wastewater management strategies. The findings point to a critical gap in current conservation policy – area-based protection alone cannot achieve biodiversity or resilience goals if land-based pollution remains unaddressed. This session will explore why wastewater pollution reduction must be integrated into 30×30 implementation to achieve effective conservation aims, while simultaneously strengthening ecosystem health, climate resilience, and the wellbeing of coastal communities.
