Second cycle of webinars: Marine protected areas of the Southern Cone.
Last September, the second cycle of webinars organized by the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence was held.
These events had more than 500 participants and were intended to contribute to the dialogue to strengthen the marine protected areas of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and southern Brazil.
The virtual meetings were inspired by a series of documents created by the Forum that offer tools to identify critical marine ecosystems, achieve effective management, improve financing and make fishing compatible with conservation.
The events were aimed at technicians from government agencies, scientists, civil society organizations, and journalists. However, the invitation was extended to the general public in order to provide information on the importance of marine protected areas and thus conserve the multiple benefits that the ocean provides.
The first conversation on Best Marine Protected Areas in the region was attended by a Representative at the Lower Chamber, National Argentinian Congress, Graciela Camaño, the governor of the Chilean region of Magallanes, Jorge Flies, the biologist and senior advisor of the Packard Foundation in Chile, Eglé Flores, and specialists from WCS Argentina, Valeria Falabella and the Blue Whale Center of Chile, Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete.
The second webinar Towards an effective conservation network the invited panelists were the director of Environment and Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Waldemar Coutts, the doctor in biological sciences and president of the Mediterranean Network of Managers of Protected Areas, Purificació Canals, the specialist in management of marine protected areas of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBIO) and the Tamar Center, Gilberto Sales and the director of the National System of Protected Areas of Uruguay (SNAP), Lucía Bartesaghi.
The oceans of the Southern Cone are a source of life and it is inhabited by hundreds of species, from corals, algae, crustaceans, fish, birds to large mammals. Throughout their life cycles, these species do not know limits and make this sea a great ecosystem. Various factors of human activity threaten marine biodiversity like never before and endanger natural functions.
The objective of the webinars was to contribute to the dialogue between actors in the region to achieve representative and effectively implemented Marine Protected Areas (MPA) systems, so that they are able to sustain themselves in the face of climate change.
“We need to convince the world of what we have here and of the services we are providing through our ecosystem,” said Santiago Krapovickas, coordinator of the Forum project for the strengthening of marine protected areas.
This cycle was supported by the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) and the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service of Chile (Sernapesca), the Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, Ocean Governance (with the support of the European Union) and “Un Solo Mar” (project of the Brazilian organizations Nema and Baleia Jubarte and OCC from Uruguay).
It is also sponsored by Oceans5 and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
The video presented at the beginning of the second webinar included the participation of the authors of the documents on effectiveness, fishing and financing from Argentina and Chile: Nykol Jara, Gustavo Chiang and Claudia Silva from WCS Chile, Leandro Tamini from Aves Argentinas, Germán Palé, María Nube Szephegyi and Guillermo Cañete from Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina.
Also participated Santiago Krapovickas, coordinator of the project for the strengthening of MPAs of the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence.
Host: Victoria Matamoro from Fundación Cambio Democrático
Translation into Portuguese: Carlos Eduardo Soares from Nema
Video editing: María Florencia Scasso.
Design and infographics: Eugenia Zavattieri and Victoria Zavattieri from WCS Argentina.
Cartography: Valeria Falabella from WCS Argentina.
Interpreters into Portuguese and Spanish: Speziali Communications.
Technical support: Let Virtual Pro.
During the events, inquiries were answered thanks to the support of: Alexandra Sapoznikow, Daniela Castro, Francisco Morey, Andrea Michelson, Ana Di Pangracio, Andrés Milessi, Claudia Silva, Guillermo Cañete, Kleber Silva, María Nube Szephegyi, Marita Mokobodzki, Nykol Jara, Leandro Tamini and Pablo Fillipo.