The handover ceremony took place on November 15 in Puerto Pirámides, in the Península Valdés Natural Protected Area, a site representative of the Province’s conservation efforts.
Participants included Jorge Perversi, Mayor of Puerto Pirámides; Nadia Bravo, Undersecretary of Conservation of the Ministry of Tourism and Conservation of ANP of Chubut; Fernando Pegoraro, Undersecretary of Environment and Control of Sustainable Development; Ricardo Delfino, coordinator of the MaRes Project, together with representatives of local organizations.
The initiative seeks to provide the necessary resources and capabilities to effectively address current and future pressures on biodiversity and to optimize the daily activities of wildlife rangers and park rangers.
Nadia Bravo, Undersecretary of Conservation, noted: “The work of wildlife rangers and park rangers in the field protecting our natural areas will be optimized thanks to this equipment. Their work is fundamental for the sustainability and care of our marine resources, and today they are supported with tools that will be very useful in their daily tasks”.
This effort, coordinated by the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence together with its strategic partners and financed by the European Union, is part of the objectives of the MaRes Project, whose purpose is to strengthen the resilience of Argentina’s Marine Protected Areas and promote joint, participatory and integrated work between provincial and national government institutions and their member organizations.
Ricardo Delfino, coordinator of the MaRes Project, said: “This delivery represents a concrete contribution to the conservation of marine biodiversity. Strengthening the management of protected areas contributes to their preservation and to the improvement of their capacity to face environmental challenges in a coordinated manner.
The equipment includes a semi-rigid boat with trailer, a 4×4 UTV with trailer, an ATV and a 4×4 pickup truck, computer equipment for the monitoring system, drone, cameras, GPS and binoculars. This set of tools will help improve remediation, monitoring, and research activities, and will also enable a timely and coordinated response to any environmental threat.
In turn, Fernando Pegoraro, Undersecretary of Environment and Sustainable Development Control, underscored the value of this initiative in the provincial context: “For Chubut, this equipment represents an opportunity to advance in an effective and sustained conservation of our marine-coastal protected areas. Having these resources is essential for the articulated work and the timely response that the protection of these sites demands”.
The delivery of this equipment reaffirms the commitment of all the actors involved in marine conservation in the region, promoting a more effective and sustainable management of protected areas, in line with the conservation objectives that the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and the Province of Chubut are collaboratively promoting.