Our Marine-Coastal Conservation Legacy

”Marine biodiversity assessment and development in Perlas Archipelago, Pacific of Panama” (2003 to 2008) Document link

The project, coordinated by Professor Mair, aimed to build up research and habitat information about the marine and coastal environment of Las Perlas Archipelago, to be designated by Panamanian authorities as a National Park. The project was originally funded for 2 years and then extended to 4 years. This was the first time that Professor Mair and Dr. Barrios worked together. Some of the outcomes included a baseline description of the marine-coastal environments for the Archipelago, a formal declaration of the area as a Special Management Zone (SMZ) by the Panamanian government, several peer reviewed articles, MSc and PhD theses.

Grant for networking between UK and Colombia (2014) This workshop was coordinated by Professor Mair and Professor Preziosi (now Head of the School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth) and attended by Dr Barrios. During the workshop, 15 Colombian Early-Career Researchers and 15 British Early-Career Researchers exchanged ideas for the development of collaborative work. There were numerous proposals developed from the workshop and at least three were successfully funded: (the projects "Fishing for Life" (described below), a project between ICIT Orkney-UCC Colombia, and a project with NHM London and Colombian partner).

pescandoparalavida.org

Officially known as “Improving local management of tropical coastal resources in the face of climate Change for economic wellbeing of local and vulnerable communities”, this £274K project aimed at creating collaborative work between transdisciplinary and international institutions to improve the wellbeing of local fisher communities in the Caribbean. The project, originally funded for 2 years and then extended to 3 years, involved several institutions from the UK (The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, CEFAS, Stirling University, Heriot-Watt University, British Council), Colombia (National Parks, Universidad de Cartagena, NGO Corales de Paz, NGO CEINER, NGO Fundacion Plantea Azul, aquaculture company Granja Lismar) and USA (NGO Mangrove Action Project-MAP). The institutions worked with 32 freshwater communities and 24 marine fisher communities to develop more than 15 research project proposals. Some were social projects and others were research projects; around 5 of those proposals were funded by national or international organistations. Several postgraduate students (MSc and PhD students) from countries in Europe and Latin America developed their work during the project. This was the first time that several of our partners (National Parks, MAP, Corales de PAZ) worked together. Professor Mair worked as a member from Heriot-Watt University. Dr. Barrios was the general coordinator of the project. During this project Dr Wodehouse, Dr Montoya-Maya and Dr Barrios created a course for local fishermen to learn about conservation biology and restoration of coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangroves.