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.

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.

Wednesday, October 28, 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC/6 pm CET. 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.