June 12, Nice. In the morning, the meeting “Strengthening resilient and effective networks of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas in southern South America” was held, which brought together representatives of the European Union, South American authorities and specialized organizations, focusing on the experience of the MaRes project and the strengthening of international cooperation for the protection of the oceans.
The opening was in charge of Marina Lipari, European Commission official and expert in international partnerships, who underlined the interest of the European bloc in collaborating with regional actors such as the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence, the province of Chubut and the National Parks Administration. She also expressed the intention of scaling up these experiences and lessons learned to other Southern Cone countries.
During the day, Alejandro Vila and Nadia Bravo presented the progress of the MaRes project and opened a space for exchange with the public. The importance of joint work between governments, organizations and communities to achieve concrete goals in marine conservation was highlighted.
The second event, “Multilateral Collaboration for Ocean Conservation. The experience of Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Brazil”, held on Wednesday afternoon, was attended by regional allies such as Nadia Bravo, Undersecretary of Conservation and Protected Areas of the province of Chubut; Julio Cordano, ambassador of the Chilean Foreign Ministry; and Edgardo Ortuño, Minister of Environment of Uruguay.
Bravo highlighted the momentum of the MaRes project and the progress made in the creation of the Patagonia Azul Park. Cordano, for his part, celebrated Chile´s ratification of the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty (BBNJ – Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement) from the start and called on the countries of the region to join in. The Uruguayan Minister supported the proposal and announced his country´s intention to ratify the treaty in the short term.
The session opened with remarks by Lihla Noori, Capacity and Learning Lead at Blue Nature Alliance, and Heather Ludemann, Ocean Initiative Director for the Americas at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
The event closed with a series of workshops on Marine Protected Areas, pressures on ecosystems, international cooperation and continuous capacity building. Nearly 60 people from different countries participated. Among the main conclusions, opportunities and needs were identified to strengthen regional collaboration in marine conservation, including the use of new technologies, the promotion of information exchange at different levels and training for all stakeholders involved.
