Newsroom
| Trinational Initiative Leads to New Plan of Action | | |
| Published Thursday, September 30, 2010 7:00 am |
A meeting of U.S., Mexican
and Cuban scientists wrapped up Wednesday at Mote Marine Laboratory in
Sarasota with an outline for a formal plan of action designed to better
the health of the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean through a
collaborative approach to management and conservation issues.
The
Trinational Initiative workshop was especially timely in the wake of
the summer’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and included a session
focused on the spill.
“We’ve been saying for
many years that we need good baseline data about these areas and that we
need to work together across nations to have a consistent approach for
the gathering and sharing of information,” said Mote President Dr. Kumar
Mahadevan. “The oil spill showed us how easy it is to get into trouble
and that we need to work together to be prepared for natural and
man-made disasters.”
Luis Alberto Barreras
Cañizo of the Ministeria de Ciencea, Tecnologia y Medio, of Cuba, said
that the meeting closes the start-up phase of collaborative planning and
sets the stage for action. “This fourth meeting closes a start-up
cycle. We have six projects that we’ve identified and we need to find a
way to achieve actions and results,” he said. “Ecologically, this
meeting sets an important precedent for the systematic and normal
exchange of scientific information… not only in this area, but in other
spheres of knowledge as well.”
The research plan will be
drafted into a formal document over the next 30 days and then the
working groups will move forward to put their plans into action, said
Dr. David Guggenheim, senior fellow with The Ocean Foundation and the
workshop’s moderator. “We’ve definitely moved into the action phase that
will allow us to focus on the marine ecosystem as a whole.”
The
plan includes specific actions that scientists in each nation will
undertake to study and conserve coral reefs, marine mammals, sea turtles
and shark and other fish populations. It will also include actions to
further the protection of sensitive marine habitats and ways to develop
better communication mechanisms among the three countries — especially
in areas where telephone service is unreliable and Internet file sharing
is restricted.
For instance, the coral
reef working group considers looking at the resiliency of corals to be a
key priority. “Our No. 1 action item is to figure out why Cuba’s corals
— especially the acroporids [branching corals] — are so resilient in
Cuba, but so threatened here in Florida,” said Dr. Kim Ritchie, manager
of Mote’s Marine Microbiology Program and a member of the coral working
group.
Examples of other actions
outlined during the meeting:
• Implementing a
regional monitoring protocol for sea turtles to make sure results are
compatible among groups/nations.
• Continue research
expeditions focused on sharks, including population assessments and
determination of critical habitats.
• Training researchers
from Cuba and Mexico on the methods and protocols for marine mammal
research and monitoring developed/used by scientists at Mote in order to
standardize field research techniques.
•
Assess spiny lobster populations in the U.S., Cuba and Mexico and
study the management and ecology of the populations.
“This
is a very strong initiative and having the action plan is a very good
asset,” said Rosa Linda Amezcua of the United Nations Industry
Development Organization (UNIDO). “This tri-lateral initiative is also
quite interesting because the scientists are working without
governmental or agency support — it’s being done from the ground up. In
reality, this is perhaps one of the reasons we have been so successful.
We’re colleagues rather than politicians.”
Adm.
Dr. Alberto Mariano Vázquez De la Cerda of the Secretaria de Marina in
Mexico said that the meetings and action plan will perhaps become a
model for similar efforts in other marine regions shared among nations.
“We have three countries that have different systems in economics, in
politics and socially,” he said. “But we have something in common — love
from each and every one of our countries and our people. The real
results will be for the benefit of all of our citizens. But this can
also be an example for other gulfs and other seas — the Sea of Japan,
the Baltic — they too can follow our systems and frameworks while still
existing within the frameworks of their own countries. It is my dream to
see this converted into reality and we expect great benefits for
humanity.”
Dan Whittle, director of
the Environmental Defense Fund’s Cuba Program, agreed that the
Trinational Initiative would be transformative. “This project will
transform the environment in the entire Gulf of Mexico and I think it
will also help transform U.S.-Cuba policy,” he said.
|
Participating Institutions:
U.S.
Center
for International Policy (CIP)
Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF)
Florida International University (FIU)
Harte
Research Institute (HRI)
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation
Marine
Ventures Foundation
Mote
Marine Laboratory (MML)
New York Botanical Garden
Brookfield
Zoo/Chicago Zoological Society (CZS)
Sea to Shore Alliance
The
Nature Conservancy (TNC)
The Ocean Foundation (TOF)
1planet1ocean
The
Ocean Research Education Foundation
University
of South Florida (USF)
National
Oceanic and Admospheric Administration (NOAA)
Cuba
Ministerio
de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente (CITMA)
Acuario
Nacional de Cuba (ANC)
Centro
de Investigaciones de Ecosistemas Costeros
Instituto
de Oceanología
Centro
de Investigaciones Marinas, de la Universidad de La Habana (CIM)
Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras, Ministerio de la Industria
Pesquera (CIP-Cuba)
Mexico
Centro
Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR)
Comisión
Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP)
El
Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR)
Instituto
Nacional de la Pesca (INAPESCA)
Secretaría de Marina, México
(SEMAR)
Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
Universidad
Autónoma del Carmen (UNACAR)
|
The Trinational Initiative thanks the following
sponsors for generously giving their time, efforts and funding:
- Center for International Policy
- Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y Medio Ambiente (CITMA)
- Environmental Defense Fund
|
We thank the following funders for their generous
support:
- The Bay and Paul Foundations
- The Christopher Reynolds Foundation
- Marine Ventures Foundation
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
|
Send this page to a friend
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
Mote Underwater Robots Search For Oil
Help Now with Mote’s Oil Spill Response
Mote scientists have launched underwater robots to patrol off the Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for oil. One of them, nicknamed Waldo, stopped phoning home and has been replaced off the Florida Keys...
More >>
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
