by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Sep 22, 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 4, 2025 | Past Webinars, Uncategorized, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Thursday, September 4, 2025. Panelists and moderator include: Alex Hearn, Professor and Researcher at the University of San Francisco de Quito and the Galapagos Science Center; Nai’a Lewis, Director of Big Ocean and Founder and CEO of Salted Logic; Kerry Sink, Marine Program Manager and Principal Scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute; Alan White, President of the Board of the Coastal Conservation and Educational Foundation (Philippines); Lauren Wenzel, MPA Advisor for the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (moderator). Description: Opposition from fishing communities and industries, shifts in government support, funding crises, misinformation and counternarrative campaigns, political instability, natural disasters… Challenges like these can emerge at any stage of an MPA’s development – from planning to long-term implementation – and threaten to derail the MPA’s progress towards achieving its goals. This webinar will discuss ways that MPAs can persevere through adversity, and the factors and strategies that enable MPAs to be durable and make headway toward their missions despite headwinds. Our panelists will speak to their experiences working through MPA processes with communities and industries, designing and redesigning MPAs, and generally ensuring MPA effectiveness. We also encourage webinar participants to share relevant experiences, insights, expertise, and resources during the webinar via the webinar chat. Questions for discussion with the panelists and other participants can be sent in advance of the webinar to sarah@octogroup.org.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Nov 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
Wednesday, November 13, 7 am US EST/Noon UTC/1 pm CET [***Webinar will last 1.5 hours***] Presenters: IUCN plastics experts and guest speakers from islands addressing plastic waste. Description: This webinar will focus on island-specific plastic pollution solutions, including tools for understanding plastic waste solutions, economic angles of plastic pollution, case studies, and solutions platforms to generate knowledge exchange for more effective mitigation and prevention of plastic waste and pollution. Just a few of the tools and resources to be covered include the Blueprint to Zero Plastic Waste – a guide to reducing plastic waste on islands – and findings of studies estimating the impacts of marine plastics on the fisheries and tourism sectors and the costs and benefits of implementing a solution (e.g., a national recycling system, with and without regional cooperation) to reduce mismanaged plastic waste and its leakage into the marine environment. Case studies will provide information on what has worked and not worked on islands, including the sustainability of projects.
