Organization
The Blue BOAT Initiative: a national project of the Chilean Ministry of the Environment and MERI Foundation
The Blue BOAT Initiative is organized under the following institutional framework:
Executive Committee
Executive Committee
Ensuring the correct execution of the project, and defining the actions needed to fulfill the project objectives
Institutions:
– Ministry of the Environment
– International Monetary Fund
– Fundación MERI
– Filantropía Cortés Solari
Advisory Committee
Advisory Committee
Giving support and advice in strategic decision-making, and provide networks and recommendations to increase the project visibility, impact and scope
Institutions:
Fundación Sense of Silence, Fondo Monetario Internacional, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación, DIRECTEMAR, DIRINMAR, SUBPESCA, SERNAPESCA, EDF (Environmental Defense Fund) – Programa Oceános, IPCC, NOAA
Work Groups
Multi-sectoral expert groups from different areas that make recommendations on issues related to the implementation of the project according to each stage.
Scientific Work Group
This group will address various aspects of Bioacoustics, such as its applications to studies of marine biodiversity in general, and whales in particular, among other matters. It will also address the discussion of the oceans as ecosystems that mitigate climate change and the use of physical oceanographic data.
These expert work groups will discuss the available technologies, the analysis of the records obtained, as well as to evaluate the strategic places where this methodology is suitable to replicate the project in later stages.
Science and Citizen
This group will bring together key civil society and scientific stakeholders involved in conservation, climate change and the role of ecosystem services in climate change mitigation. Its objective will be to propose initiatives aimed at raising awareness of this issue. Climate change is a multidimensional phenomenon that requires multiple approaches, ranging from the environmental to the social, cultural and financial.
Maritime Traffic
This group will discuss how to promote a mandatory regulation of maritime traffic to avoid collisions with cetaceans. Reducing the threat of collisions is a complex issue to address, due to the variation of factors depending on the region and the season. Today, 90% of the world’s freight is transported by sea, and the risk of collisions between vessels and cetaceans has been identified by the International Whaling Commission as a worldwide conservation concern.
Technology Work Group
This group shall address the logistics necessary for the proper development of the project, from the acoustic and oceanographic aspects to all the aspects related to the proper installation, transmission, storage and processing of the data collected. This project will install and connect the first South American network of sonobuoys, with sensors for temperature, pH, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen, to record variations and serve as indicators of climate change in the oceans.