by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Nov 4, 2026 | Past Webinars, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Presented by: Catarina Frazão Santos of the University of Lisbon and Peter Menzies of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Description: Taking a holistic approach to the spatial management, protection and governance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is fundamental, particularly under increasing human pressure and a rapidly changing climate. Participatory mapping approaches support collaborative, science-driven ocean management and governance by involving key stakeholders in the collective creation of maps and geospatial data to support informed decision-making. They include identifying hotspots of value (ecological, social, economic) and developing intensity maps based on stakeholders’ views. The Antarctic Ocean Use Survey (OUS) is a newly launched participatory mapping initiative developed under project PLAnT in collaboration with SeaSketch. The goal is to engage the Antarctic research community in collectively identifying places of importance and value in the region and mapping marine and coastal areas relevant to scientific research, conservation, tourism, and fisheries. The survey will also explore perceptions of areas undergoing environmental and ecological change in the Antarctic region. Results will be used to produce scientific information that informs Antarctic spatial management, protection, and governance in a rapidly changing world. In this webinar, we will present the Antarctic OUS in detail and contextualize it within the most recent developments of project PLAnT.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Nov 2, 2026 | Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Tuesday, November 17, at 03:00 UTC. Presented by: Mary Mar E. Jaleco of the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University, Matthew Vincent Tabilog of Mangrove Matters Philippines and Youth Engaged in Wetlands (YEW), and Phebe Fidge of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Youth Task Force. Webinar description: Coastal mangrove and seagrass ecosystems are vital for shoreline protection and coastal livelihoods, yet many are degraded or threatened by human impacts. Engaging youth in conservation and restoration is essential, but barriers such as inadequate support, policy gaps, and unclear pathways for participation limit meaningful, sustained engagement. This webinar will explore how youth-led and youth-focused initiatives are advancing coastal wetlands conservation across local, regional, and global scales. Speakers will share experiences from immersive, place-based learning; grassroots youth organizing; and international policy engagement. Mary Mar E. Jaleco, Community Extension Services Coordinator at the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University, will present on the JBLFMU Eco-Adventure Camp, which engages youth ages 16–20 in immersive, hands-on learning in wetlands, and will share outcomes and lessons for engaging youth in coastal wetlands conservation and restoration. Matthew Vincent Tabilog, Founder of Mangrove Matters Philippines and Knowledge and Capacity Building Lead for Youth Engaged in Wetlands (YEW), will present on Mangrove Matters’ youth-led work advancing mangrove conservation through education and community engagement and will share lessons from YEW on mobilizing youth for coastal wetlands conservation. Phebe Fidge, Co-chair of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Youth Task Force, will highlight barriers and enablers for youth engagement, drawing on the Task Force’s recent report on policy coherence gaps for youth-led ecosystem restoration and CYMG’s recent guide to youth engagement for inclusive ocean governance. She will also draw from her experience restoring coastal wetlands in Australia. After the presentations, there will be live Q&A to address questions from webinar participants about how they can empower inclusive and effective youth-centered approaches to coastal wetlands conservation and restoration in their own communities. Captioning will be available in over 30 languages.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Nov 2, 2026 | Upcoming Webinars, Webinars
Tuesday, December 1, 2 pm US EST/11 am US PST/9 am HST/7 pm UTC. Presented by: Brock Bergseth of James Cook University, Catherine Moltzen of the University of New England, Michael Guilbeaux of University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Cory Pukini of The Waitt Institute, and Chris Wilcox of WildAid. Description: Noncompliance regularly undermines the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide. Although the drivers of noncompliance vary — e.g., insufficient funding, capacity, neocolonialism, historical conflict — the most common response is increased enforcement. This response is well intentioned but incomplete; it is reactive rather than proactive, does not address the human issues involved, and does not ensure increased compliance. This webinar presents a novel adaptive management framework for compliance in MPAs, built around six elements: a regulatory basis, a situational assessment and conceptual model, data and information gathering, risk assessment and strategic planning, compliance treatments, and monitoring and reporting effectiveness. Integrating these elements into a structured approach enables MPA practitioners to better understand and manage compliance behaviors. Drawing on decades of on-the-ground MPA management experience from diverse cultural and regulatory contexts — from small community tabu areas in Papua New Guinea to large-scale parks like the Great Barrier Reef — this session will highlight how tailored interventions — including strategic communication, normative approaches, and risk-based enforcement — can improve the use of limited management resources.
Hosted by: OCTO
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Oct 28, 2026 | Past Webinars, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Presented by: Nur Arafeh Dalmau, Carolina Olguin Jacobson, and Fiorenza Micheli with the Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability Hopkins Marine Station. Description: Kelp forests are among the most productive and valuable ecosystems on the planet, supporting extraordinary biodiversity and coastal communities worldwide. Yet despite their ecological, social, and economic importance and growing threats from climate change and human impacts, less than 2% of kelp forests are currently effectively protected. MasKelp is a non-profit and fiscally sponsored project of The Ocean Foundation dedicated to addressing this conservation gap through science, capacity building, and communication, with a particular focus on Latin America. MasKelp combines long-term ecological monitoring, satellite data, and collaborative research to identify priority areas for kelp conservation and translate this knowledge into practical conservation and management actions. Current projects include mapping climate refugia for kelp forests in Mexico and Argentina, monitoring kelp forest in Latin America, and supporting participatory science with fishing communities and conservation partners. This webinar will showcase how MasKelp connects science with conservation action, from identifying climate refugia and conservation gaps to building long-term ecological monitoring programs and strengthening local capacity. It will also highlight MasKelp’s training programs for scientific divers, kelp mappers, and conservation scientists and its efforts to raise global and local awareness of kelp forests through underwater photography, videography, storytelling, and scientific publications.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Oct 28, 2026 | Past Webinars, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Presented by: Senegal’s Directorate of Community-Based Marine Protected Areas. Description: The International Marine Protected Areas Congress is one of the most important global events for marine conservation. Hosted every four years, this event brings together professionals, practitioners, communities, Indigenous people, and decisionmakers to share experiences and inspire future actions for marine protected areas and ocean conservation. The 6th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC6) will take place in Dakar, Senegal, from March 22–27, 2027. In this webinar, members of Senegal’s Directorate of Community-Based Marine Protected Areas will announce the registration process, call for proposals, and conference logistics. They will share key details about the Congress format and planning process and answer questions from attendees. Anyone interested in attending or participating in IMPAC6 activities is encouraged to join the webinar. Live interpretation in English, French, and Spanish will be provided.
by Sarah Carr, Ph.D. | Oct 20, 2026 | Past Webinars, Webinars
This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. 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.
