MARCO-BOLO Coordinator Nicolas Pade (EMBRC) presented the project at a dedicated webinar ‘Marine Coastal Biodiversity Long-term Observations’ as part of the The Atlantic International Research (AIR) Centre’s Networking Fridays webinar series.
MARCO-BOLO aims to structure and strengthen European coastal and marine biodiversity observation capabilities, linking them to global efforts to understand and restore ocean health, hence ensuring that outputs respond to explicit stakeholder needs from policy, planning and industry. To this end, the project is establishing and engaging with a Community of Practice (CoP) to determine end user needs to optimise marine data flows, knowledge uptake and improve governance based on biodiversity observations.
By exploiting synergies with concurrent projects MARCO-BOLO will develop and demonstrate new autonomous technology for biodiversity mapping and monitoring, and data streams from remote sensing, environmental DNA (eDNA), robotics, and optical and acoustic observations. Protocols for eDNA-based biodiversity observations are established and validated across applications, taxa and ecosystems. The sequence of the analytical and technical processes for the different use cases will be incorporated into operational Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and included in online reusable workflows, contributing to the free and open access of EU and global biodiversity information facilities, and to support major EU biodiversity directives and global initiatives.
The project partnership will leverage its international activities (MBON, GOOS, OBIS) and participation in UN Ocean Decade Programmes (Marine Life 2030, OBON, ODIS, Ocean Practices for the Decade) to align the project’s work programme to global CoP, ensuring European participation and leadership in global biodiversity monitoring and global science. MARCO-BOLO results will be designed to build upon existing capability and infrastructures and to be relevant to exist frameworks so that outputs can be easily integrated into national, regional (EU and adjacent sea basins), and global observation systems, with no delay ensuring the reusability of the investments Europe is already making in data generation.
The AIR Centre is an international collaborative framework to address global challenges and local priorities in the Atlantic Ocean. It promotes an integrative approach to space, climate, ocean and energy in the Atlantic, supported by emerging technological innovations and advances in data science, and through South-North and North-South cooperation.
This was an Ocean Decade Event. The webinar took place on Friday 16 June 2023 from 13:00-14:00 (UTC).
If you missed the live webinar, you can watch the recording.