Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

Bringing local communities and sustainable growth opportunities together for sea turtle conservation

Thursday, May 2, 10 am US EDT/7 am US PDT/2 pm UTC/1 pm CVT/3 pm BST/4 pm CEST/4 pm SAST (Cape Town)/8 pm BST (Dhaka). Presented by: Kirsten Fairweather of Project Biodiversity. Description: Project Biodiversity (Projeto Biodiversidade) is a Cabo Verdean NGO that unites local conservation efforts with opportunities for sustainable growth through programs that benefit Cabo Verde’s unique ecosystems and its people. At the heart of Project Biodiversity’s work is the protection and conservation of the loggerhead sea turtle. The archipelago supports one of the world’s largest nesting aggregations of loggerhead sea turtles and the only major nesting area for loggerhead turtles along the eastern Atlantic. Project Biodiversity runs a wide range of programs to protect nesting turtle populations – including running night patrols and drone monitoring of turtle nesting beaches to prevent poaching; providing educational programs to local communities, youth, and tourists; designating Tourist Friendly Hotels; and relocating nests to hatcheries. Join this webinar to learn about the wide range of measures taken to protect Cabo Verde’s sea turtle nesting aggregations, what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and how Project Biodiversity has created sustainable growth opportunities for local communities with this work.

Designing and delivering carbon and biodiversity credit schemes to benefit MPA managers, indigenous peoples and local communities

Wednesday, May 22, 11 am US EDT/8 am US PDT/3 pm UTC/4 pm BST. Presented by: Julian Clifton of the University of Lincoln. Description: Carbon and biodiversity credit schemes (often collectively referred to as ‘nature-based solutions’) are increasingly highlighted as a means to deliver on global biodiversity and climate change targets. The total size of the nature-based solutions market is projected to reach around $200 billion by 2050, representing a significant means to address the growing gap in conservation financing in protected areas worldwide. It is imperative, however, to ensure that the design and delivery of monetary or non-monetary benefits (termed co-benefits) arising from such credit schemes involve relevant resource users, including indigenous peoples, on an equitable and just basis. This webinar will introduce the current landscape of biodiversity and credit schemes, identifying the main actors and processes involved. The webinar will identify a suite of principles and criteria which provide a framework for managers and communities within protected areas to evaluate the impacts of credit schemes on local resource users and ensure that co-benefits are tailored to the local social, cultural, political and environmental context. The role of MPA managers as intermediaries in scheme design and implementation will also be highlighted. It is hoped that this webinar will enable MPA managers to work alongside resource users in the co-design and implementation of nature-based solutions schemes to facilitate the long term delivery of appropriate co-benefits to MPAs and their resident communities.

The role of marine protected areas in providing ecosystem services to improve ocean and human health

Thursday, June 20, 10 am US EDT/7 am US PDT/2 pm UTC/3 pm BST/4 pm CEST. Presented by: Gillian Ainsworth of University of Santiago de Compostela. Description: Marine protected areas (MPAs) are key management tools that contribute to the conservation of marine ecosystems worldwide, increasing the ecosystem services that nature provides to people. These ecosystem services include the release of oxygen, leisure opportunities, cultural inspiration, and the provision of food and medicines that improve the health and well-being of millions of people. In this talk we explain how natural processes and components in MPAs are valued by different groups of people and how we can maximize their effectiveness and avoid negative socio-economic effects such as social conflicts and inequitable distribution of benefits. We recommend that the MPA creation and management decision-making include the collection and integration of interdisciplinary data. This data can be used to develop pluralistic methods of valuation and foster social equity by involving local stakeholders.

Past Webinars

The global state of seascape restoration: Progress, needs, and opportunities

This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. Presented by: Giulia Costa-Domingo and Rowana Walton of the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Description: At least EUR3.35 billion, across 237 projects, has been invested in seascape restoration since 2015. The recent report Endangered Seascapes: Progress, needs and opportunities for seascape restoration by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) reveals the locations, primary sources of funding, and beneficiaries of large-scale marine and coastal restoration efforts taking place around the world. It focuses on large, “seascape”-scale projects, recognising the importance of integrated approaches to the use and conservation of coastal and marine socio-ecological systems. The report synthesises the findings from a project, commissioned by Arcadia, which reviewed a non-comprehensive list of seascape restoration projects to provide a high-level overview of the state of seascape restoration that can support evidence-based restoration funding and planning. This webinar will cover the major findings from the project’s report and accompanying database which are both available online for free and contain a high-level analysis of marine restoration work undertaken from 2015-2022.

A New Tool for Identifying Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs)

This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Presented by: Johnny Briggs and Felipe Paredes of the IUCN OECM Specialist Group. Description: Many sites – termed other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) – make a vital contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, even though they are not protected areas. In 2022, OECMs were included among the ways that parties could fulfill their commitment to conserve 30% of the Earth under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. To assist government officials, land managers, and conservationists, IUCN WCPA recently published a step-by-step site level tool for identifying OECMs. This tool allows an assessor to determine if a site meets the Convention on Biological Diversity definition and criteria of an OECM. For sites which do not currently meet all the criteria, the tool serves to highlight areas where further information or improvements in governance and management are required.

The MPA Health Tracker tool: Measuring, tracking, and communicating MPA performance in real time

This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Presented by: Christine Ward-Paige of eOceans. Description: Marine protected areas, and all ocean management areas, urgently need to work. Measuring, tracking, and communicating performance in real-time is necessary to iterate towards success. A participatory framework — integrating technology, cloud-computing, and big data processing with purpose-built maps, analytics, and algorithms, and an ethical approach to data sharing — can help. The eOceans app and analytics platform were specifically designed to host the MPA Health Tracker and MPA Health Score. These tools provide both in-depth and high-level assessments of MPAs across social, biological, and anthropogenic dimensions, accessible to all stakeholders, rightsholders, and decision makers. The system was created to break down silos and enable collaborative MPA performance tracking to facilitate smart actions in a timely and united way.

Developing Offshore Wind in US Waters Part 2: Offshore Wind Development and the Structure and Function of Marine Ecosystems

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Presented by: Jon Hare of the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Description: The pace, scale, and magnitude of offshore wind development in the US and around the globe is increasing rapidly. Countries are committing to this new ocean use to decarbonize their energy systems and as a goal for economic growth. The scale of this development has moved from small turbines in shallow waters of the North Sea to new technologies that allow for large-scale industrialization in marine ecosystems. This webinar will explore the potential interactions of this growing industry with the structure and function of marine ecosystems and what science is still needed to better understand these interactions.

Planning for MPA Resilience: Lessons Learned from Using the Resilience Self-assessment Tool (R-SAT)

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, September 14, 2023. Presented by: Jean-Jacques Goussard of the Ocean Governance Project, Mike De Luca of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mathieu Ducrocq of the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa (RAMPAO), Lilian Wetzel of the Ocean Governance Resilience Partnership, and MPA managers from Senegal, Colombia, Brazil, and the US. Description: The Ocean Governance Resilience Partnership has developed the Resilience Self-assessment Tool ( R-SAT) for addressing the resilience of MPAs. Over 80 MPAs in 17 countries have conducted resilience self-assessments with the tool, and since December 2022, several trainings of trainers have been organized, including in Senegal, Brazil, Colombia, Comoros, and the US. This webinar will present lessons learned from applying the tool and feedback from the recent training of trainers, including how future-oriented management approaches and risk reduction are being integrated into the tool. In addition, several MPA managers will share their experiences applying the tool. Learn more about R-SAT at https://tinyurl.com/MPAresilience.

Addressing ocean sewage pollution: Financing wastewater treatment upgrades at scale

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, August 3, 2023. Presented by: Tanya Amaya of the Coral Reef Alliance, Roderic Hodges of Marine Change, and Jos Hill of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Description: Ocean sewage pollution is a global challenge that is damaging marine and coastal ecosystems and harming people’s health. Improving management of human waste can be complex and expensive, yet the impacts can dramatically improve coastal ecosystems and human health. In this webinar we will hear from Tanya Amaya, Regional Program Director for Mesoamerica at the Coral Reef Alliance, about how they improved wastewater management in West End, Roatan, Honduras, and their approach and challenges to scaling wastewater improvements across Honduras. We will also hear from Roderic Hodges, Director of Investment at Marine Change, about an assessment of sanitation investment in Southeast Asia and the operations and management business model innovation necessary to finance fixing this issue at scale.

Strengthening Blue Carbon Solutions in US Ocean Policy

This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Presented by: Anne Christianson of the Center for American Progress. Description: The ocean is gaining prominence in climate change policy circles as a tool for addressing the climate crisis. Blue carbon, the carbon captured and stored by marine and coastal ecosystems and species, offers potential as a “nature-based solution” to climate change. However, some blue carbon interventions may not be suitable as a climate mitigation response. This presentation will present results from a recent paper that gives context to numerous blue carbon sequestration pathways, quantifying their potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and comparing these sequestration pathways to point-source emissions reductions. The applicability of blue carbon will be discussed in terms of multiple international policy frameworks, to help individuals and institutions utilize the appropriate framework to reach ocean conservation and climate mitigation goals.

Developing Offshore Wind in US Waters Part 1: The Planning and Regulatory Framework

This webinar originally aired Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Presented by: Brian Hooker of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Betsy Nicholson of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, and Joy Page of the US Department of Energy Wind Energy Technology Office. Description: The deployment of offshore wind energy facilities in US waters has tremendous potential to help the country deliver on its climate change commitments and clean energy goals. It is also a reality beginning to take shape with the first commercial-scale facilities beginning construction in 2023 in the Northeast US. In Part 1 of our webinar series on ocean wind energy in US waters, we will explore the historical and policy background and framing behind the US wind energy transition, including an introduction to the planning and regulation processes and the players involved. This webinar will set the groundwork for future discussions exploring offshore wind energy, its future in US waters, and its compatibility and interactions with marine protected areas and other ocean uses.

Managing for Climate Change in MPAs: Stories and Tools from National Marine Sanctuaries and the National MPA Center

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Presented by: Lauren Wenzel of the NOAA National Marine Protected Areas Center, Zac Cannizzo of the NOAA National Marine Protected Areas Center and Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Sara Hutto of the Greater Farallones Association and Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries, and Jillian Neuberger of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and National Marine Protected Areas Center. Description: U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries and the National Marine Protected Areas Center are leaders in MPA management in a changing ocean. By leveraging the diversity of ecosystems, geographies, cultures, and experiences represented in the National Marine Sanctuary System, they have developed a suite of products that can help other MPA managers advance and accelerate climate-smart management of their MPAs. This webinar will highlight climate monitoring, assessment, and adaptation experiences from the National Marine Sanctuary System and share a number of new products and tools from the National MPA Center, including an MPA Climate Vulnerability Assessment Guide and Climate Adaptation Story Map, designed to help MPA managers accelerate and enhance climate monitoring, assessment, and adaptation within their own MPAs.

Assessing MPA Resilience: An introduction to R-SAT, the Resilience Self-Assessment Tool for MPAs

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Presented by: Jean-Jacques Goussard of the Ocean Governance Project. Description: The online MPA Resilience Assessment Platform has been developed within the Resilience Partnership, a component of the EU-funded Ocean Governance Project. The platform addresses the ability of MPAs to deal with the environmental, social, economic, cultural, institutional, political, and technical aspects of rapid changes. A key component of the platform – R-SAT, the Resilience Self-Assessment Tool – is a rapid and accessible self-assessment tool that provides clear results and practical guidelines and recommendations that can help MPAs develop skills to deal with rapid changes internally and in the surrounding region. The tool also stimulates discussion that builds a common knowledge base and understanding among managers and other stakeholders and provides important input to management plans. MPA managers from 16 countries around the world are already using R-SAT. New developments with the tool will enable it to be used for prospective MPAs, over a wider geographic area, with more stakeholders, and account for 30×30 objectives.